Local Skies Are Flight School Classrooms

By Steve Propes

On any typical weekday, residents living directly east of the Long Beach airport might well experience over a dozen student pilot flights over or near their residence every hour. During the early afternoon on a weekday, the count was 22 flights in one hour.

Such is the fact of life in the newly redrawn Fifth Council District. These training flights start at the 90807 ZIP Code and end in the 90808 code eastward over Heartwell Park or Carson Street, then a right turn over the neighborhood to the approach path where another right takes them into a runway landing. The noise generated by these practice or instructional flights generally blends into other urban noises of traffic, children playing and dogs barking, but sometimes it is louder than the normal ambient sound, calling attention to the source.

Long Beach authorities contend there is nothing the city can do to deal with this. Period. Not only can flying schools avoid municipal sanctions, Fifth District air is also used by out-of-town schools to avoid local rules at nearby airports.

Lisa Dunn, 59, a semi-retired Realtor and co-founder of the Small Aircraft Noise Reduction Group (SANeR) said, “A little over a year ago, we noticed a huge change of small aircraft flying over our homes. Everybody was concerned. Some were flying until midnight. We did research, let’s start a group, we passed out fliers, it was big, can we stop it? Does the noise ordinance cover it? We talked to the airport and elected officials. We finally got an item on the City Council agenda, asking the airport to come back in 45 days to explain what could be done. In October 2023, the city attorney opined, “There’s not a whole lot we can do because we took over $350 million from the federal government. That means we have to allow any or all flights for general aviation and we have to allow anyone from any airport.”

Blame the feds. In 1990, Congress passed the Airport Noise and Capacity Act, shifting authority for noise abatement away from local governments and airport proprietors, granting the authority to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In a general aviation operations memo from LGB, submitted to the City Council, if the city decided to impose a restriction on flight schools, the FAA could terminate the city and airport’s eligibility for Airport Improvement Program grant funds.

Having received no federal money, Compton, Hawthorne and Torrance airports implemented rules for flight schools. That’s the reason schools based in this airport are flying out of Long Beach. “Other airports did not take any money,” said Dunn of nearby airfields. “Torrance implemented fees for touch-and-go. All those planes here in Long Beach are doing free touch-and-goes,” landing and immediately taking off again.

Dunn alleged four of the seven or eight flight schools that operate out of Long Beach have “no regard to neighborhoods.”

A source close to flight schools stated the increased frequency of training is based on the demand for airline pilots, however this demand is beginning to be met.

“Providing pilots to airlines is starting to get saturated.”

“We don’t believe there is a shortage of these pilots,” said Dunn. “Our flight schools market overseas. Seventy percent of the students are from other countries, if we have a pilot shortage, why are we sending them back? It’s less expensive here.”

Another issue is toxicity caused by fuel. “Ninety percent of these small planes use leaded fuels,” said Dunn. “Planes fly low. Lead has been discovered on trees, plants, it’s deadly, but there is a fix,” said Dunn, who notes an unleaded fuel marketed as Gami is safe.

Said the flight school source, “there is an issue about lead in fuel, which will be resolved soon. When cars went to unleaded fuel, there were issues with engines. Airplane owners must redo engines for a 2030 deadline. Gami G100UL invented unleaded fuel. Will any new fuel not damage engines?” Another option is G94UL, which is currently available. However, airplanes require 100 octane fuel. Many, but not all planes, can work and run under G94UL.”

Dunn contended “the year 2030 is not fast enough.” SANeR group is part of a pending lawsuit. They have hired a well-known environmental aviation law attorney, whose name Dunn would not disclose.

Co-spokesperson for SANeR, John Mosquera recalled these planes would use a Cherry Avenue path immediately after leaving the airport. Now the planes make their turns as farther west. “They say there’s no way they can safely turn over Cherry. Usually, they make the turn on Orange or Atlantic.”

A call to the office of Fifth District Councilwoman Megan Kerr went unanswered. In an email from Airport Public Affairs Officer Kate Kuykendall, she said “The airspace is controlled by the FAA and flight schools must meet a few of the agency’s requirements to operate as a flight school. There are additional restrictions on general aviation operations, which encompass flight schools, imposed by the city’s noise ordinance. Lastly, flight school operators, like all businesses located in Long Beach, must obtain a business license from the City of Long Beach.”

“There are probably 500 flights a day. Twenty-five thousand to 35,000 a month,” said Dunn, who has recorded flight school planes flying as early as 6 a.m. and as late as 11:45 p.m. “When I moved here 30 years ago, we maybe had 10 an hour, which was manageable,” said Mosquero.

Dunn is hoping to stop nighttime flights, which are less of a problem in the 90808 ZIP Code. A resident near the Heartwell Park duck pond hears only the police helicopter landing late, around 10 or 11 p.m. “Stopping flights before 7 p.m. would resolve a lot,” said Dunn. “It’s low-hanging fruit. We are not after shutting down flight schools, but we are going after increased regulation.”

 

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