(most recent is first)
LAST NEWS ON ORMOND BEACH AIRPORT NOISE AND SAFETY ISSUES - November 2014
(Email sent to below):
After being involved in safety and noise issues involving the Ormond Beach Airport since 2006 I have come to the conclusion that life is not worth wasting dealing with bureaucracy. Time and time, over and over, year after year, the City of Ormond Beach staff say they cannot do anything about noise abatement and forcing aircraft to follow determined paths. Voluntary compliance is a joke. The airport managers (plural) have in the past, always stated they ask the flight schools at meetings to co-operate. I can tell when that always occurs because almost all the flight schools fly directly over my house at times.
I guess I will have to continue to live sitting in my house and not being able at times to hear my television, or be out in the yard and not be able to carry on a conversation with a person near me because of the inconsiderate, ignorant flight schools, flight instructors and pilots or future pilots who care nothing about residents on the ground. They fly wherever and whatever altitude they want and know nothing will be done. One night during the first week of November I had the windows open in the house and was watching television in the mid-afternoon. Almost every five minutes for a straight hour, an airplane flew directly over my house (which is not a big X on the voluntary noise abatement path indicating a target to fly over) and I had to constantly pause the tv until the plane passed. I wish city commission meetings could be held in my yard on a afternoon where business could not be conducted without this aggravation. On Saturday November 7, it was a beautiful day and almost all day it was airplane after airplane every five to ten minutes almost all day long. My wife and I sat on the patio and thought about how nice it could be if the pilots cooperated. We then went inside to watch television with the windows open and could not hear the tv when the "good neighbors" flew overhead. Thanks to all the flight schools that day, especially Embry Riddle University.
The flight schools are asked to be "good neighbors". Most are not. Anywhere in Volusia County if your residential neighbor is creating excessive noise by music, loud mufflers, parties there are controls in place and something can be done. Not so true with aircraft. They have a green light to do whatever they want once they are in the air. Also increasing is the amount of evening flights when it is dark. There is no possible way to identify a low flying, loud airplane over your house at night, but then again, there is no value in reporting it because the control tower is closed then and the City of Ormond Beach has no idea what aircraft are using the airport.
If you command a small boat on the Tomoka River and your wake is about 2 to 3 inches in a no wake zone, you can expect a law enforcement stop. But airplanes have no enforceable rules.
I have no respect anymore also for Embry Riddle University's flight school and operations department. After talking with a representative from their legal department, Charlie Sevastos, after I sent a detailed letter (I found out to the wrong dean and it was forwarded to Mr. Sevastos) I was told an outright lie that everything was OK and the situation had been handled with the flight operations director, Ken Byrnes, who had spoken to me. I never even spoke to the person who said all is well. I estimate almost 75% of the aircraft that IGNORE the voluntary noise abatement path are Embry Riddle University planes. If you read their flight operations procedures with guidelines for noise abatement, I don't think any pilots have followed it for years. It looks good on paper but that is as far as it goes. Click here for a copy of the letter and here for the attachments to it:
ERU flight operations manual
Excerpt from above:
6.8 Noise Abatement
All ERAU pilots will cooperate fully with all efforts to assist in the reduction of noise in any area and will adhere to any local noise abatement procedures published by local or airport authorities. Pilots are also reminded to avoid repetitive use of any area that could lead to complaints during ground reference maneuver practice.
Documented noise abatement procedures have been established at Daytona Beach International (KDAB), Deland Municipal (KDED), Ormond Beach Municipal (KOMN) and 84 Flight Operations Manual - Local Operations Revised 08/27/12 Rev 07 New Smyrna Beach Municipal (KEVB) airports. We have an obligation to comply with established procedures and promote good will in the community in which we live.
On a side note, I was always curious about why ERU uses ADS-B tracking in all their aircraft but none of them are able to be viewed on www.planefinder.net. Other aircraft are, but maybe ERU doesn't want people to know the paths and altitudes their pilots are flying ??? More on ADS-B: http://prescott.erau.edu/college-aviation/flight/aircraft-airspace-faqs/index.html
The FAA will not do anything about noise abatement here because of the lack of involvement by the City of Ormond Beach. But this is the same all over the United States with other cities,residents, etc. requesting noise abatement to a silent and a non listening FAA. Actually some cities are working on plans to fine loud aircraft but that will never happen in Ormond Beach.
After contracting "complaint fatigue" I have decided I will not waste any more time out in my back yard photographing, video recording and documenting aircraft that ignore the City of Ormond Beach requested noise abatement path. I will still save and archive my thousands of photos and videos of aircraft who ignored the voluntary noise abatement path.
For now, I am joining many Ormond Beach and unincorporated Volusia County residents living near the airport that have given up in any hope of assistance from the City of Ormond Beach.
Good luck to any person who calls to complain about airplanes flying over their homes in the future. But if you feel annoyed at any panhandlers approaching your cars in Ormond Beach, call the police. A law against was passed November 6, 2014 and they can be arrested. They are a terrible nuisance and not offered a panhandler abatement path to take. . I also think back in the past when the City of Ormond Beach was considering having parents sign waivers the City is not responsible for any aircraft crashing into the City’s public sports fields on Hull Road. The idea was later dropped but it did show a concern that someday it could very well happen.
For past documentation, visit my web site at: http://echelberry.org/ormond-beach-airport/ormond-beach-airport-page-1.htm
Norman Echelberry
1032 Shockney Dr. (in unincorporated Volusia County, NOT City of Ormond Beach)
Ormond Beach, Fl 32184