Exposure to Airplane Noise Increases Risk of Sleeping Fewer than 7 Hours Per Night.

FAA and Congress Finally Awaken to Citizens’ Discontent with Aircraft Noise Impacts

No matter what objection or challenge taxpayers bring in response to Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) initiatives, FAA’s defense is always the same: changes are required for “safety and efficiency.” FAA’s global resort to such an excuse (e.g., justification for changes to flight paths over populated areas without notice or environmental review) is belied by the recent responses of both the U.S. Congress, and the Secretary of Transportation.

Although it's convenient for the wealthy, private jet travel is also one of the most carbon-intensive things a person can do, spewing about two metric tons of carbon every hour.

The people living in Van Nuys are mostly renters, majority Latino, and households here typically make less than $60,000 per year. That's roughly the cost of a round-trip private flight from LA to New York. Suzanne Gutierrez-Hedges lives nearby, and she's worried about how those flights are affecting her kids' health.

The results of this state-funded study indicate that the projected economic advantages to the region of the new flight paths are significantly offset by their negative health effects, which were measured through quality-adjusted life years and the medical economic burden on affected populations.

The study states that the total cost of hospitalizations, as well as direct and indirect costs of disease and lessening of life outcomes, will be approximately $1.2 billion over 30 years ($800 million in today’s dollars).

Most of the noise in an aircraft is generated by its engines. However, this is not the only source. Noise is also generated by the airframe and from the various systems in the aircraft, such as the air conditioning system. What steps are being taken to reduce this noise?

At 140 decibels (a unit to measure the intensity of sound), the noise of a jet plane is only 40 decibels away from damaging our hearing tissues and 54 decibels away from the loudest noise possible. But what causes this noise?

Nearly 20 years after the Concorde jet failed, aircraft-makers are still trying to master high-speed flights. But can they?

Technical challenges remain. Jet engine technology, noise regulations and the shortage of clean and alternative aviation fuel will make it difficult for airlines to get government approvals on aircraft and keep ticket prices low, critics said. Bold corporate claims of bringing back supersonic travel will run headlong into scientific challenges for years to come, they added.

Scientists in New Jersey found the heart attack rate was 72 per cent higher in areas of the US state with the highest levels of noise pollution. They estimate that one in 20 heart attacks could be attributed to traffic noise, which previous studies have suggested can disrupt sleep and cause chronic stress.

Study attributes 1 in 20 heart attacks in New Jersey to noise from highways, trains and air traffic

In sectors from government regulation to health care practice, the threats posed by noise remain “often underestimated,” according to the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise.

Researchers and clinicians are trying to change this. They’ve shown that noise pollution not only drives hearing loss, tinnitus, and hypersensitivity to sound, but can cause or exacerbate cardiovascular disease; type 2 diabetes; sleep disturbances; stress; mental health and cognition problems, including memory impairment and attention deficits; childhood learning delays; and low birth weight.

Congressional hearing focuses on aircraft noise issues since the FAA implented NextGen, the multibillion-dollar effort to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system.

Progress in technology, coupled with lessons learned during the pandemic mean there now exists a path to green aviation in Europe.
That pathway starts with frequent fliers not making the problem worse.

The Hostile Sonic Environment that U.S. Military Training is Creating in Some Civilian Communities

Nearly two decades after the last flight of Anglo-French Concorde, a panel of United Nations aviation experts is meeting from Monday and will consider updating a decades-old supersonic noise standard by 2025, according to meeting papers seen by Reuters.

Questions have emerged about what worked, and what didn’t, after one of Washington’s most powerful industries was propped up by federal money

GAO is recommending that FAA (1) identify supplemental noise metrics for use in noise impact analysis for PBN implementation; (2) incorporate additional communication tools, such as supplemental noise metrics, into outreach; and (3) provide information on what the public can expect from FAA in its post-implementation outreach. FAA concurred with the recommendations.

The FAA’s recently released Neighborhood Environmental Survey says almost two-thirds of the 10,000 people surveyed, who live near one of 20 U.S. airports, are “highly annoyed by aircraft noise over the entire range of aircraft noise levels considered, including at lower noise levels.”

According to the FAA’s Neighborhood Environmental Survey, nearly two-thirds of people reported being “highly annoyed” by aircraft noise — about five times higher than the 12.4 percent who reported the same level of annoyance during a 1992 review. Those surveyed considered noise from aircraft far more annoying than that from other sources, including cars, trucks and their neighbors.

Read the news