COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Air Force Academy officials plan to meet with residents to discuss complaints over airplane noise from its cadet training programs.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reported () that complaints from residents of the nearby Briargate neighborhood have become more frequent since January, when the academy changed its air traffic patterns because of Federal Aviation Administration concerns.
“It has pretty much destroyed our quality of life, with dozens of planes buzzing low from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day over our home,” Briargate resident Cathy Dawson told the newspaper. “We are very military-friendly and many of our husbands have served, but the situation is not acceptable.”
Air Force Academy officials plan to meet with residents Tuesday.
The FAA notified the academy in late 2012 of new mandates that changed the route of some planes headed to Denver International Airport. The new route put cadets on training flights below Denver-bound commercial jets. That triggered a wider review of academy traffic patterns and changes that put cadet planes out of the path of jets headed to Colorado Springs as well.
The new routes are safer but put more planes in a compact area east of the academy.
During the busiest flying times for the academy, nearly half the flights once took place over farmland in eastern El Paso County, using a landing field dubbed Bullseye. But that airfield requires a full staff to handle the traffic—positions that were cut this year as part of a Pentagon program to slash $1 trillion from its budget over a decade.
Col. Kim Hawthorne, the top planner for academy flight programs, said cutting flights is not a serious option, and the academy is not considering varying its routes because consistency is crucial for student pilots.
More than 1,900 cadets take part in the flying programs each year.
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Information from: The Gazette,
