City of Los Angeles Suing FAA Over Airport Flight Plans

LOS ANGELES -- Accusing the FAA of persistently failing to address the negative impacts of overflights of aircraft headed to LAX, L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer said Tuesday that he's suing the agency, challenging recent changes affecting incoming aircraft flying over Mid-City and central Los Angeles.

The city's petition also challenges the FAA's recent decision to limit public comment on flight procedures, and require members of the public who submit online comment to FAA's flight procedures website regarding the environmental consequences of proposed flight procedures to acknowledge the FAA won't take those comments into account.

Three years ago, as part of FAA's implementation of the Southern California Metroplex, FAA changed flight patterns for aircraft landing at LAX, including consolidating flight patterns over West Adams and other communities in mid-City and central Los Angeles, causing significant noise and other environmental impacts, according to the city statement. In May 2018, FAA made
further changes to this flight arrival pattern, but allegedly failed to perform the required environmental review or seek public comment.

Los Angeles previously asked the FAA to address a series of specific changes sought by the City to at least partially provide some relief to residents, including: ensuring that during nighttime hours aircraft remain at the minimum altitudes established by the FAA itself -- pilots and air traffic
controllers routinely have disregarded those minimum altitudes; that the FAA instruct pilots to remain at higher altitudes when they are allowed to deviate from the established arrival pattern; and that the FAA give a date certain by which it would implement new technology the agency claims would ensure aircraft strictly comply with the established arrival pattern and minimum altitudes.

To date, these negotiations have been unsuccessful.

The City said it will seek a court order compelling the FAA to complete an environmental review of the changes to the flight patterns, including taking comment from residents on noise and other quality of life issues, and to examine alternatives to the currently implemented flight path over Los Angeles neighborhoods in order to address any impacts, the statement said.

City News Service contributed to this report.