Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford
February 21, 2019
Supervisor Rutherford: FAA Plans to Change Flight Path LAKE ARROWHEAD—The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun work on developing a new route that would reduce commercial aircraft flights over Lake Arrowhead that have generated a number of complaints from residents, San Bernardino County Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford announced Thursday.
“This is really great news for mountain residents who have been disturbed by jet noise since the FAA began using the flight path over Lake Arrowhead in 2017,” Rutherford said. “The FAA’s process will take about a year, maybe a bit longer, but the proposed new flight path will fully replace the current daytime route over the lake.”
The FAA implemented the SoCal Metroplex Project in phases in late 2016 and 2017. It replaced dozens of conventional air routes with ones based on satellite navigation. One of the routes takes planes over the Lake Arrowhead communities, which are more than 5,000 feet above sea level.
In April 2018, the FAA began diverting many night flights from the route over Lake Arrowhead in response to community concerns about noise the flights were generating. The FAA says the proposed new route, which would be available for use during the day as well as the night, would have significant operational benefits in addition to providing relief to Lake Arrowhead residents.
Supervisor Rutherford travelled to Washington, D.C. last year to meet with FAA officials about the problems the flight path was generating in the mountains, and she has continued to communicate residents’ concerns to the FAA as well as to Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Kamala Harris and Congressman Paul Cook.
“I appreciate the support our federal representatives provided on this issue, and I commend the many mountain residents who ensured the FAA was fully aware of their concerns about the flight path,” said Rutherford, who learned about the FAA’s plans during a conference call with the agency Wednesday.
The FAA will be conducting required environmental studies and conducting the appropriate level of community involvement on the proposed new flight path prior to implementation of the new flight path.
Great job by David Caine, his committee and the community in working with government officials on accomplishing this.