Wear ear plugs

Richard Tedesco

Residents from several communities irate about excessive airplane noise gathered at East Williston Village Hall on Monday night to hear solutions from Federal Aviation Authority officials about the apparent overuse of runway 22L for landings at JFK Airport.

But the rare gathering of FAA officials at the monthly meeting of the Town and Village Airport Safety and Noise Abatement Committee only produced more frustration, and seemed to raise more questions about the landing flight path causing disruption in residents’ personal lives.

“I don’t have a magical answer that’s going to solve your problem right now,” said Jeffrey Clarke manager of the FAA air traffic office for the New York area.

Clarke said he’s still seeking a solution to the frequent use of 22L, which brings aircraft into JFK on a southwest approach to the airport over East Williston, Garden City, New Hyde Park and Floral Park – all villages represented on the noise abatement committee.

He said he recently conferred with the head of the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control about reducing use of runway 22L on weekends. But Clarke said activity at the three New York metro area airports determined the way planes are routed at JFK .

Ray Gaudio, East Williston’s committee representative, cited Port Authority figures on use of 22L since 2004, when 14.5 percent of all flights landing at JFK used 22L, through Sept. 30 during 2012, when 32.4 percent of all flights arriving at JFK used 22L. In May, Gaudio said a pilot declared an emergency three times before he was allowed to land on runway 31. 

“What’s going on here?” Gaudio asked.

Clarke said he didn’t know the details of that situation, but said. “Nothing is put in front of safety.”

Gaudio said excessive use of VHF omnidirectional range navigation for lower altitude approaches to JFK allows airlines “to cram more planes into JFK,” and create more noise.

“The use of 22L is high. It’s one of the go-to runways for efficiency,” Clarke said.

Operational efficiency is among of the FAA’s considerations to determine landing pattens, along with runway availability, weather conditions, safety, closures, surface conditions, visibility range, equipment outages and maintenance activities, according to FAA spokesman Jim Peters.

Committee chairman Kendall Lampkin said he was aware of the Port Authority of New York receiving a “non-responsive” reaction from FAA officials on its suggestions to shift some traffic away from 22L. Peters said the FAA officials “weren’t prepared” to discuss meetings held with Port Authority officials.

The FAA and the Port Authority operate the New York metro airports, including JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, in a partnership.

Clarke said landings on 22L had decreased over the past three months by 474 flights compared to the same period last year.

But pressed by Larry Hoppenhauer, Malverne’s committee representative about daily usage, Clarke said he didn’t have that information – sparking an angry response from Hoppenhauer about the FAA officials being unprepared.

“I move planes. We’re not Karnacs. We don’t know what information you want ahead of time,” Clarke said, adding that the FAA doesn’t track daily usage.

Floral Park Trustee Mary-Grace Tomecki cited the recent use of 22L for 52 straight hours for instrument landings over the weekend of Oct. 13 and 14. Claude Viera, FAA operations manager of the JFK Tower, said the frequent fog banks near JFK could have prompted the protracted usage.

“I’m not seeing where the weather conditions dictate the use,” Tomecki said.

When Kurt Langjahr, New Hyde Park committee representative, asked if a letter from the FAA to the Port Authority specifying a shift of runway use every eight hours was still in effect, Clarke said the letter was “outdated.”

Langjahr said larger planes’ deploying landing gear on approaching JFK are the noisiest and asked whether pilots might delay deploying wheels until planes are nearer to the airport.

Robert Jaffe, FAA aviation safety inspector for the eastern region, said no adjustment could be made on landing-gear deployment.

Village of East Williston Mayor David Tanner asked if the ground rule of “equitable distribution” of flights to runway paths still existed.

“Where we have the latitude to do that,” Viera said, “and that would be during the midnight hours.”

Tams Sharek, an aide to Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, said McCarthy is still “looking at” whether the FAA and the Port Authority can define a separation of authority on their respective airport responsibilities. He said residents can file noise complaints online at planenoise.net, a site he said the Port Authority set up in response to McCarthy’s concerns about the issue. 

Lampkin recalled FAA officials discussing a memorandum of understanding with the Port Authority at a noise-abatement committee hearing last October. But Peters said the FAA has decided to not go forward with that memo.

Sharek said a meeting McCarthy is seeking to set up between the committee members and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. Lampkin said he was willing to meet with LaHood. 

The meeting concluded as East Williston resident Dan Krittman presented no questions, but a comment, saying, “This meeting confirmed my darkest fears. Nothing’s going to be done.”    

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