4
QUEENS WEEKLY, DEC. 16, 2018
FAA to begin oversight of LaGuardia fl ight patterns
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BY MARK HALLUM
The Federal Aviation
Administration “astounded”
members on the LGA
Airport Committee at the
Dec. 4 meeting when they
revealed that noisy flight
patterns have been overutilized
and better management
oversight would be
practiced in the future.
FAA officials said the
notorious TNNIS departure
flight pattern, introduced
in 2012, has been employed
out of convenience
as opposed to situations
that call for accommodating
more flights leading to
massive headache for residents
of northeast Queens.
“I almost did a backflip
in the center of the conference
room when the FAA
announced they are creating
an added layer of
management oversight to
guarantee that TNNIS is
used only when necessary,”
Maria Becce, retired vice
president of the Broadway-
Flushing Homeowners Association,
said in an email.
“This a MAJOR positive
development in establishing
community relations with
the FAA regarding the efficient
and agreed upon use of
the TNNIS flight pattern. It
will bring immediate relief
to excessive airplane noise to
northeast Queens. The final
long-term step is to develop a
replacement for TNNIS, but
for now this is a major positive
accomplishment.”
The TNNIS climb is
known to cause impacts
throughout Flushing and
Bayside with residents of
Broadway-Flushing complaining
that the noise
could be compromising the
structural integrity of their
homes, which are recognized
as a historic district
by the state.
The departure route
will now only be used
when airspace between
LaGuardia and JFK is full
and for other safety reasons,
according to Becce.
Communities throughout
the borough have been
fighting for change though
organizations such as
Queens Quiet Skies and
the New York Community
Aviation Roundtable.
Anxiety, depression and
other stress-related conditions
can affect the overall
health of people living
beneath the controversial
flight patterns that the
Federal Aviation Administration
launched unannounced
in 2012, according
to a Columbia University
study released in August.
The issue has even made
a place for itself in Congress
with the Quiet Skies
Caucus, co-chaired by U.S.
Rep Tom Suozzi, which advocates
for communities
across the nation impacted
by noisy flight patterns.
The FAA began piloting
an alteration to the
North Shore helicopter
route on Oct. 15 that reduces
noise by 50 percent
over Whitestone and College
Point by forcing helicopters
to fly farther out
over the water.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@
cnglocal.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4564.
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