Many people have experienced the amusement park departure from John Wayne Airport – full throttle, steep ascent, then throttling back to “glide” over Newport Beach as the Southwest flight attendant makes a wise crack about flying over rich people. Now, the City of Newport Beach is going to ask that the thrill ride include a few twists and turns.
A plan, developed at the cost of $75,000 by consultants to the City, will ask that the FAA to mandate that departing airliners make at least two turns as they pass over Newport Beach, in an attempt to keep the planes over the bay and not pass over several waterfront neighborhoods. The issue of aviation noise isn’t new.
If you object to airplane noise, why move near an airport? Why place yourself somewhere under the traffic “pattern” of a major regional airport?
If you don’t like trains or train whistles, look for a house that doesn’t have tracks dissecting the back yard. Similarly, if you find certain odors offensive, move someplace where the wind won’t blow over your home from a nearby landfill or old-fashioned wastewater treatment plant. And, if you choose to ignore these simple solutions, you forfeit the right to complain.
Planes have been arriving and departing from John Wayne since 1923. It’s likely that most residents knew that the field existed before the decided to buy, rent, move, or squat.
Further compounding the vexing complaints of the Newport Beach Bay is that numerous steps have been taken in recent years to not only reduce the noise generated by all aircraft, but to ensure that the 4.24 million people who departed John Wayne last year didn’t disrupt the peace and tranquility of neighborhoods that were developed at the end of the runway.
It isn’t uncommon to hear a quiet yelp on a plane as it leaves Orange County, as some passenger who finds flying disquieting is surprised by the drop-out-of-the-sky feeling of going from full-throttle to half-throttle. Compounding that with several, what I assume will be fairly sharp turns, will only exacerbate the situation.
Don’t like sand? Don’t go to the beach. Don’t like sun, stay out of Hawai’i. Don’t like airplane noise? Stay away from the airport. But don’t force changes upon 4.2 million people to satisfy your ridiculous disregard for your own interests.