Flight Path Threatens Path to Healthy Neighborhoods
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2018
Contact: dae@revolutionmessaging.com (310) 879-9908
LOS ANGELES— TODAY, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will begin hearings in the DC Appellate Court on a series of lawsuits challenging an arbitrary FAA decision made in April 2017 to reroute a significant percentage of airplane traffic in a flight path over the dense Los Angeles neighborhoods.
The changes in flight path violate the FAAs own environmental and social justice requirements that flight impacts should not disproportionately impact low-income and communities of color. This change impacts 70% of minority and low-income communities in Los Angeles.
“The only sound you hear now in West Adams is the continuous roar of airplanes. In less than a year, more than 350,000 noise complaints have been lodged for this one flight path with Los Angeles International Airport (LAX),” stated St. John’s President & CEO Jim Mangia.
“This is not just a quality of life question, it is a quality of health imperative,” Mangia continued. “The failing air quality and deserted streets tell a sad story of neighborhoods in crisis.”
This is not the first time the FAA has acted in violation of its own regulations in operations at LAX. In fact, the FAA flies the vast majority of jets under the minimum altitude required under its own regulations.
Two main oversights have resulted in the negative impacts:
- The FAA’s environmental analysis for the Project failed to consider the localized impacts of its new method of IFR navigation that uses GPS to enable a pilot to guide their aircraft to a landing in low visibility situations, also known as RNAV flight paths, only looking at noise impacts over a larger metropolitan area
- The FAA utilized outdated noise modeling techniques when making its
The FAA could easily mitigate its impacts by operating in compliance with its own height and environmental justice regulations. Reportedly for the sake of “efficiency” and in order to implement the new “NextGen” navigation system, airplanes now fly as low as 2,000 feet above heavily populated neighborhoods, 2-3 minutes apart.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed against the FAA, which has refused to negotiate or reconsider its unconstitutional decision to concentrate flight paths into narrow corridors above residential neighborhoods in order to maximize airline industry profits. The FAA has already lost one lawsuit with the residents of Phoenix, Arizona, but has continued to defy
court orders to disperse the flight paths so no community bears an unfair and unhealthy burden of airplane pollution and noise.
The federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear Donald A Vaughn v. Federal Aviation Administration and Michael P Huerta (United States Court of Appeals No. 16-1377) on October 18, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. The Honorable Douglas H. Ginsburg, David S. Tatel and Harry T. Edwards are set to hear the case.
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St. John’s Well Child and Family Center serves patients of all ages through a network of 15 health centers and school-based clinics in Central and South Los Angeles and Compton.
Our mission is to eliminate health disparities and foster community well-being by providing and promoting the highest quality care in South Los Angeles. Learn more at sjch.org.
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ST. JOHN’S WELL CHILD AND FAMILY CENTER (SJWCFC) IS AN INDEPENDENT 501(C)(3) COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER SERVING PAT