LA City Attorney Demands Halt to Shift in Burbank Flight Path

LOS ANGELES -- City Attorney Mike Feuer on Friday sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration demanding that planes departing Hollywood Burbank Airport return to a more northerly flight path, saying a recent shift to the south was never approved and takes aircraft out of previously adopted routes.

Feuer called on the FAA to issue an order' within 30 days directing air traffic controllers to ``direct departing aircraft to follow the flight tracks that were modeled in the Environmental Assessment for the 2017 Departure Procedures, and thus correct the erroneous `southern shift' of the Runway 15 departure tracks.''

Residents of neighborhoods such as Sherman Oaks and Studio City have vehemently complained in recent months about the shifting flight pattern, saying departing planes are flying closer to their homes and at lower altitudes, creating more noise.

In his letter, Feuer said the southward shift of departing flights never went through an environmental assessment or public review process, and it violates the route that was established in a 2017 Record of Decision reached as part of the review of the Southern California Metroplex flight-path project.

He also said returning the flights to the previously agreed-upon departure path can be done immediately without another lengthy environmental assessment.

City News Service contributed to this report.