Northern Hills Homeowner's Association

Here's a Timely Idea

Jul 29, 2001

Net Airport Site Raises Hope
Data could help neighbors fight jet noise

By Rogers Worthington
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
July 9, 2001

When San Franciscans are disturbed by the roar of a low flying jet airliner, they no longer have to guess the altitude. They can log on the airport's noise abatement Web site and see for themselves--an approach some noise-weary suburban Chicago officials would like to investigate.

For the last two months, the Web site-- FlyQuietSFO.com --has made available the flight paths of aircraft using San Francisco International Airport or two other airports in the region, Oakland and San Jose International Airports.

Residents can view a plane's altitude and flight path, superimposed on a color map of the Bay area. It may also be possible soon to get the airline and flight number as well, said Michael McCarron, assistant deputy director of San Francisco International's noise abatement program.

''The idea is to give as much information as possible,'' he said. ''It does empower the airports' neighbors.''

If Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins' interest in the San Francisco system is indicative of other members of the O'Hare Noise compatibility Commission,
there may be pressure to have such a system for the benefit of O'Hare International Airport's neighbors.

Mullins, chairwoman of the commission's technical committee, said commission
members receive only monthly printouts of collective flight paths of all planes on a given day.

Some commission members complain that it is difficult to draw conclusions from them.

''We get maps now that look like spaghetti. I think [the San Francisco system] is something worth looking into,'' said Mullins, who plans to raise the subject with the technical committee.

The system, produced by Mega Data Corp. of New York and BridgeNet International of Costa Mesa, Calif., provides information by listening in to
the digital communications between an airplane's transponder--an identifying
transmitter-receiver--and Federal Aviation administration radar in Oakland.

It determines the plane's location by measuring the difference in speed between the signals sent and received by the transponder. It is similar to the system airlines use to keep track of flights.

O'Hare's noise abatement office does not provide the service on its Web site. Instead, it provides residents, on request, with a read-out that includes the flight numbers, aircraft types, speeds, altitudes and the nearest noise monitor readings during the time frame of the complaint.

O'Hare receives the flight data on a 24-hour time-delay basis from FAA radar in Elgin, and the noise data from its own noise monitors installed in communities around the airport.

''At this time, we're not looking at accessing another source of information when we already receive that information and have been responsive to people,'' said Christopher Arman, Chicago's deputy aviation commissioner.

If the noise compatibility commission doesn't check out the system, the Suburban O'Hare Commission may instead. SOC already has all the technical components of the approximately $200,000 system, except for BridgeNet's
computer software to put it on its Web site.

''There is no question that we would be interested in it,'' said Joseph Karaganis, SOC's lawyer. ''It's doable.''

For security reasons, there is a 10-minute delay between the event and when it appears on the San Francisco Web site. But the gap allows time for residents to log on to the site, officials say.



More ...
''If people are being awakened in the middle of the night, they have a chance
to see who it was, what altitude they were at, and ask the airport to
investigate,'' said David Carbone, coordinator for the San Francisco
International Airport Community Roundtable, a group of 23 municipalities
that seek to reduce airport noise in the Bay area.

''We see it as a real positive feature,'' he said. ''It's access to information
the public hasn't had in the past. It's a graphic way of depicting where the
airplanes are.''

About 40 airports around the country have the equipment to ''listen in'' to
the transponder communications of aircraft. San Francisco International
Airport was the first to put all the pieces together and actually put the
data on its Web site, said Paul Dunholter, chief executive officer of
BridgeNet and the airport's noise consultant.

''Even though it may not be solving the noise problem, it is at least letting
people to see that the airport is making an effort to look out for them,'' he
said.

McCarron said it is too early to tell if the site, which he said had 515,000
hits in its first week, will lead to a reduction in noise complaints.

''We're still monitoring that,'' he said. McCarron hopes the system will cut
down on routine calls. The next step is to work it out so residents can log
their noise complaints directly on the Web site, he said.