Resident Complain To The City About Noise

Despite the runway being shortened to 3,500 feet, jets are still landing at Santa Monica Airport (KSMO), much to the consternation of some residents living near the airport.

One such landing on Tuesday prompted an email blast from Martin Rubin, who heads Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution (CRAAP) to people who have signed up for his communications, according to a report from the Santa Monica Lookout. He expressed concern that shortening the runway would not stop larger jets that he and his neighbors have been complaining about for years from using the airport.

Suja Lowenthal, the City's senior advisor to the City manager on airport affairs, confirmed that a Dassault Falcon 50 had landed at the airport Tuesday afternoon. She wrote in an email to CRAAP and the media that a report prepared for the city by consultant Coffman Associates states that "this type of aircraft will be able to operate at a 3,500 foot runway with less than 60 percent of its useful load," she wrote.

"This aircraft arrival was not out of compliance with what is allowed on a 3,500-foot runway."

But Lowenthal added that the city stands by its projection of a reduction in jet operations by up to 44 percent due to the shortened runway. She said that jet traffic was reduced by 84 percent in January, the first full month of operations on the shortened runway. "It is unclear what the new normal level of jet traffic will be," she said. "This monthly report will provide facts based on actual departures."

Lowenthal said that in his email, Rubin contends that "the floodgates will open once again to jet traffic and that the City of Santa Monica will, as it has in the past, blame everything on the FAA," saying that the residents who have bought properties near the airport are "being bamboozled" with the City's agreement with the FAA to close the airport by the end of 2028.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report