Aircraft over Montara

Yesterday I sent the following email to Don Haug, the person in charge of air traffic emanating out of the San Carlos and Half Moon Bay airports. His phone number is 573-3700.

The HMB airport number is 573-3701. If you reach a live person there, it will most likely be either “Mike,” or DJ Cullins. When I called Mike yesterday, he told me that he didn’t need the plane identifying information because he could see them from the airport.

It took a bit of persuasion to get him to write down the numbers, but he eventually took them and said that he would write a report. I’m going over there today to see to what extent planes are visible when they’re flying low over Montara.

This issue bubbles to the surface now and then, so I know it’s a matter of concern for many of you. Please feel free to send your email address to me at PO Box 371295 if you’d like to contact me.

Hello Mr. Haug,

I spoke with you a number of weeks ago about pilots ignoring noise abatement rules when they fly small planes at low altitude over Montara. At that time, you said you would take action against a the pilot of Belair flight school plane N238542. I hope to hear from you what action was taken.

I don’t normally have time or inclination to take photographs of the planes as they go overhead, but now that I’m working from home—better said, trying to work in spite of the airplane noise— that’s no longer a problem. Since the planes prevent me from concentrating on my business, I’ve decided to take as many pictures as I can and identify the pilots who have been intelligent enough to make it through flight school, but somehow lack the ability to “be considerate to airport neighbors” and “avoid flying over homes whenever possible,” as is stated in the Half Moon Bay Airport noise abatement guidelines.

For instance, this past Saturday (6/21/08) between the hours of 11:12:59 and 12:23:24, I captured 29 images of planes flying low over this community. That’s 29 fly-overs in the space of approximately 70 minutes, or one noise abatement violation about every 2.4 minutes.

Today, Tuesday the 24th of June, I shot pictures between 14:23:48 and 14:38:18. In these 14+ minutes, I captured images of two planes making a combined total of 7 flights low overhead. That’s once about every 2 minutes. Here is a chart showing the time, the aircraft, and the corresponding image. The rest of the images were taken to show the aircraft approaching, turning and leaving the area. Long shots with structures and foliage, plus shots that capture fuselage numbers show how low and close these pilots are maneuvering. The camera used is a Canon EOS 20D with a 70-200 mm lens.

TIME         AIRCRAFT  IMAGE NUMBER 


----         --------  ------------                      


14:23:48     N2395V    2616


14:27:00     N67169    2623


14:28:24     N2395V    2624


14:31:56     N67169    2630


14:33:12     N2395V    2637


14:37:10     N67169    2644


14:38:18     N2395V    2652

That certainly doesn’t provide a full record of today’s flights (they began before and after I took out my camera. However, it is the beginning of what will be a very comprehensive look at which planes, from which companies, with which pilots at the controls, are turning a quiet coastside village into a headache for its residents.

I know that this issue has come up on numerous occasions over the years, but to my knowledge the actions of the pilots has not changed. I suspect that residents who have tried to restore order have simply despaired and quit trying to effect change. I don’t despair about anything except the aircraft noise that distracts me from my work, and that keeps me from being able to enjoy my moments of rest.

I hope that you and I, and perhaps the FAA and certain individuals in Congress will be able to change the harassing and abusive behavior of those pilots who don’t have consideration for the people of our local communities. If they don’t stop their activities, I hope they will see their pilot licenses revoked.

But perhaps one of the first places to start is with a change to the HMB noise abatement map which does not show Montara as a noise sensitive area. How can this be accomplished?

Sincerely,

Hans Andreas
Montara, CA
650-728-9518