The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to maintain a key aircraft navigation point for Lindbergh Field departures, in order to head off increasing noise in Point Loma.
The FAA is creating modified flight patterns over 13 metropolitan areas in the U.S., including Southern California airspace, to go into effect late next year.
One of the local changes would eliminate the "LOWMA" waypoint, which passenger jets are required to tag during their initial climb-out before those heading for eastward destinations begin their left turns. LOWMA is located off the coast, reducing noise in Point Loma.
Supervisor Greg Cox said the action calls on the FAA to keep LOWMA, established 17 years ago to reduce noise in Point Loma, which includes a large residential area, a university and military cemetery.
"There is no doubt as to the importance of the airport to our region and to our local economy, but we also need to take into consideration its impact on our local residents," Cox said. "Over the last few months, my office has been getting complaints of louder-than-normal airplane noise from constituents in the Point Loma community."
He said his office was looking into the cause of the spike in complaints.
The board's action received support from representatives of Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, along with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Councilwoman Lorie Zapf.
In other board action, the supervisors directed staff to set up an arrangement with Cal Fire to use around 500 inmates to help with El Nino-related emergencies, such as flooding.
