DHL plane noise raising ire of Riverside neighbors
The authority governing the commercial use of March Air Reserve Base has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to consider three different takeoff routes for DHL cargo planes to reduce noise to surrounding communities.
Residents of the Riverside airport began complaining about excessive noise shortly after DHL began an air freight hub operation at the facility in the fall of 2006. The commission was set up to pursue commercial development after the air base was downsized to a reserve base more than a decade ago.
Officials of the airport-governing March Joint Powers Commission have criticized DHL for using older, noisier DC-9s at the airport and for downplaying the noise impacts.
The current takeoff pattern has planes turn sharply about 1.5 miles from the airport. The authority, under one option, wants to move this turn to 10 miles from the airport allowing the planes to throttle back sooner, thus cutting noise. While this option would take planes away from communities near the airport, it would send them over the more distant cities of Colton, Rialto and Bloomington.
The lengthy and complex FAA process for changing takeoff patterns would have to study potential environmental effects, particularly noise, and see if the proposals interfere with other established air routes.
Complaint about noise from one group of residents, the FAA told the San Bernardino Sun, does not mean the routes would be changed.
“You cannot transfer noise from one community to another,” an FAA spokesperson told the paper. “You can shift them for safety and efficiency. And if you move them from a higher-income area to a lower-income area, that raises a serious environmental justice issue.”
DHL plane noise raising ire of Riverside neighbors
