Man racks up 21,000 complaints in crusade against aircraft noise
Andrew Tillett and Geoffrey Thomas, The West Australian Updated October 17, 2012, 3:50 am
Man racks up 21,000 complaints in crusade against aircraft noise
A Canning Vale man makes an average of 70 complaints a day in his crusade against noisy planes.
Figures from air traffic regulator Airservices Australia show Kevin McNamara made more than 21,000 complaints - 40 per cent of the total - about aircraft noise in Perth in the past four years.
Mr McNamara said he hoped bombarding Airservices through its website over arrivals and depatures at Perth Airport would lead it to change flight paths or noise insulate affected homes.
He said yesterday his record was 800 complaints in a day and he often complained 50 times about a single flight
"They wish I will go away because I am stuffing up their statistics but their statistics don't mean a damn thing," he said. "They respond but they try to fob you off. Nothing gets done."
Now retired, Mr McNamara made his first noise complaint in 2004 but said the problem was worse since flight paths were changed in late 2008.
"It keeps me awake at night," he said. "You can be having a barbecue and all of a sudden you have six planes in half an hour and you can't think."
Airservices said 344 people made 53,731 complaints about aircraft noise in Perth since November 2008, including Mr McNamara's 21,411.
In recent months he intensified his efforts. In the past year he made 9708 complaints and in August alone was responsible for 2156 - about 70 a day.
Anti-aircraft noise campaigners said the volume of complaints reflected frustration with Airservices for failing to take concerns seriously.
Aircraft Noise Action Group spokesman Hugh Smith said the skies around Perth Airport were an "aerial sewer" because of revamped flight paths and air traffic growth.
Airservices and the Noise Ombudsman had visited Mr McNamara but could not resolve the issues.
Perth airspace is congested because of safety factors at three nearby airports plus Pearce RAAF base, which cannot be traversed on weekdays.
and
Technology to reduce plane noise
Geoffrey Thomas Aviation Editor, The West Australian Updated October 17, 2012, 3:55 am
Within two years, planes may glide into Perth Airport and zigzag over parks and warehouses rather than houses as air traffic controllers harness the latest technology to cut noise for residents.
AirServices Australia confirmed yesterday two new technologies, Continuous Descent Approach and Required Navigation Performance, were being planned for Perth.
CDA is used in Europe for a continuous descent at idle thrust rather than a stepped approach, when pilots sometimes have to use thrust several times to maintain a constant altitude before stepping down gradually.
RNP uses satellites to guide planes on a precise and often curved approach with an accuracy of one metre to avoid houses.
Qantas' Boeing 737s already have RNP and the airline is certifying its A330s to the same capability.
Many overseas airlines operating to Perth are also equipped with, but not certified for, RNP.
However, AirServices needs to design new RNP approaches before Qantas can use the capability.
RNP was devised in the 1990s by Alaskan Airlines to enable its planes to get into airports in mountain areas in bad weather.
Qantas and Air New Zealand use RNP to get into the ski destination of Queenstown almost year round.
Though it is not possible to avoid all houses around Perth Airport, RNP significantly cuts noise impact. AirServices is also watching developments for steeper descents which may cut noise 20 per cent.
Last time I looked at my engines on descent into Perth (or anywhere else for that matter) there were already at Idle.
