HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 14260 City Council Meeting: 06/13/22 05:00 PM
250 Hamilton Avenue Department: Public Works
Palo Alto, CA 94301 Category: Airplane Noise
Prepared By: Erica Ledesma
SCHEDULED Initiator: Brad Eggleston
Sponsors:
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION (ID # 14260) DOC ID: 14260 B
Updated: 6/2/2022 8:09 AM by Brad Eggleston B Page 1
2021 Annual Palo Alto Airport Airplane Noise Report
Recommendation
This is an informational report only and no Council action is required.
Discussion
The purpose of the Palo Alto Airport Annual Aircraft Noise Report is to identify noise trends in
the surrounding areas and determine compliance with established voluntary noise abatement
procedures. The 2021 Annual Aircraft Noise Report (Attachment A) was prepared by the Public
Works Department’s Airport Division staff based on the aircraft noise complaints received
during the 2021 calendar year.
The Palo Alto Airport (PAO) receives noise complaints via e-mail at pao@cityofpaloalto.org and
a designated hotline at (650) 329-2405. Staff reviews and responds timely to all complaints,
ascertaining from complainants their contact information and the date, time, and description of
the offending occurrence. Staff reviews and compiles the data to determine flying activity
trends. Staff contacts pilots when violations are observed or reported, advising them of
established procedures, requesting compliance, and reminding them about the City’s strong
commitment to limiting community impacts from airplane noise.
This report is generated on an annual basis and posted to the Airport’s webpage:
www.cityofpaloalto.org/PAO. A copy is attached to this Informational Report at Attachment A.
Airport staff continues to review available tools to better research and respond to noise
complaints in a timely manner and to reduce staff time required.
Resource Impact
This is an informational report only and no action is required.
Environmental Impact
This is not a project under Section 21065 for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA).
ATTACHMENTS:
• Palo Alto Airport 2021 Annual Noise Report (DOCX)
PALO ALTO
AIRPORT
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
2021
ANNUAL NOISE
REPORT
(January 2021 to
December 2021)
AUG 2014 – SEPT 2015
(Q4 2014 – Q3 2015)*
Vision: Palo Alto Airport strives to balance the
interests of pilots to fly with the interests of
neighbors in a peaceful living environment. This
document is a report of the noise complaints
received by the airport in 2021. Airport staff uses
this information to identify trends within Palo Alto
and neighboring communities. These trends inform
communications between airport staff and pilots on
the issue of noise.
Introduction:
The following is a report on noise-related operations and complaints received by Palo Alto Airport (PAO)
in 2021. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines air travel routes and procedures, including
defining separation distances between aircraft, determining hazards to aviation and all other safety
criteria for aircraft, and is responsible for directing and enforcing the movement of aircraft in flight.
Although organizations can petition the FAA regarding flight procedures, the FAA has the final say in what
is safe and acceptable. The Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) of 1990 federally prohibits public-use
airports from restricting airspace.
The FAA measures noise based on the Yearly Day and Night Average Sound Level (DNL) and the
Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL). While both are essentially the same, airports in California use
the CNEL method to measure noise. CNEL is a method of averaging single event aircraft noise into a
weighted 24-hour average. The system adds penalties to all events occurring during the evening (7pm –
10pm) and the night (10pm – 7am). The Santa Clara County Airport Land Use Commission (SCC ALUC)
performed a noise study for the Palo Alto Airport using the CNEL to determine the noise contours for 55,
60, 65, and 70 decibels. The contour map is included as Attachment A.
Regarding safety and altitude, the FAA has in place Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) that establish
Minimum Safe Altitudes (MSAs) for aircraft. For fixed wing aircraft, the MSA is 1,000 feet above ground
when over congested areas and 500 feet when not over congested areas. These MSAs apply to all fixed
wing aircraft except when necessary for landing and takeoff operations. Helicopters are exempt from
these altitude restrictions due to the nature of their flight. These minimum altitudes are enforced by the
FAA Flight Standards District Office in San Jose, not by Palo Alto Airport. Palo Alto Airport cannot tell pilots
when or where to fly; the Airport, however, does have voluntary noise abatement procedures that Palo
Alto Airport recommends that pilots follow. (See the Noise Abatement Procedures section below.)
The Airport receives noise complaints via email at pao@cityofpaloalto.org and a noise complaint hotline
650-329-2405. Airport staff review and timely respond to all complaints, ascertaining information from
complainants including contact information, date, time, and description of the occurrence. Various flight
trackers can be used to help identify the aircraft involved and verify if FAA regulations or Palo Alto Airport
procedures were violated. The Airport staff reviews and compiles all data to determine trends with flying
activities.
Purpose:
The purpose of the Palo Alto Airport Annual
Noise Report is to identify noise trends in the
surrounding areas and determine compliance
with established voluntary noise abatement
procedures.
Airspace:
The Palo Alto Airport airspace is unique. The
congested Bay Area airspace is dominated by
SFO Class Bravo airspace, which encompasses a
30 nautical mile radius around SFO. Underneath
the Class Bravo airspace lays the Class Charlie
airspace of Oakland and San Jose international
Airports. Finally, Moffett Airfield lies approximately 4 nautical miles to the southeast of Palo Alto Airport.
As a result, Palo Alto Airport airspace ends only 1.5 nautical miles southeast of the Palo Alto Airport’s
single runway (Runway 13/31). To land at Palo Alto Airport, aircraft must turn before entering Moffett’s
airspace, resulting in aircraft having to space themselves in traffic patterns over the peninsula when take-
off/landing volumes peak. The FAA’s Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) at Palo Alto Airport has a letter of
agreement with Moffett’s ATCT providing Palo Alto Airport aircraft with extensions into Moffett airspace
when Moffett airfield is not in use. The additional airspace is a useful mitigation tool during busy times.
Further restrictions in Palo Alto Airport airspace come from San Jose Class C airspace, starting at 1,500
feet Mean Sea Level, just southeast of Palo Alto Airport and SFO Class B airspace, starting at 2,500 feet
Mean Sea Level, just northeast of the Palo Alto Airport. Both are identified on the Palo Alto Airport
Sectional Map: San Jose Class C is shown with thick magenta lines and SFO Class B is shown with thick
blue lines. These restrictions play a vital role in aircraft departures, in turn influencing noise abatement
procedures for the Palo Alto Airport.
Noise Abatement Procedures:
Noise abatement procedures are voluntary procedures that the Airport asks pilots to follow. The Airport
is prohibited from restricting airspace. Palo Alto Airport staff will speak with individual pilots and educate
them about the voluntary noise abatement procedures. The Palo Alto Airport cannot levy fines on pilots
that violate the voluntary noise procedures. For illustrated noise abatement procedures reference Palo
Alto Airport Pilots Handout included as Attachment B.
The noise abatement procedures depend on the runway that is in use at the time. Depending on weather
patterns, aircraft can depart on Runway 31 to the northwest or Runway 13 to the southeast.
Approximately 90% of the time, weather conditions require the use of Runway 31. Pilots are asked to not
make a left crosswind departure from Runway 31, but instead make a “Left Dumbarton Departure” (fly to
the Dumbarton Auto Bridge before making a left turn and flying over East Palo Alto) or a right 270 degree
turn before departing to the south or west. When aircraft are using Runway 13, pilots are asked to make
Palo Alto Airport Sectional Map
Palo Alto Airport in Green
PAO Airspace highlighted in Red
Source: http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=37.461&lon=-122.115&zoom=10
a left 270-degree turn. In addition to these procedures, pilots are asked to climb to 1,500 feet or above
ground before crossing Highway 101 and reduce power when safely able.
For arrivals, it is standard practice and necessary for pilots to descend to pattern altitude before entering
the traffic pattern around PAO, sometimes requiring aircraft to descend below the 1,500 feet minimum
of departing aircraft over Palo Alto. As these aircraft are descending to land the engines are generally
powered back and quieter than ascending aircraft.
Airport staff continuously engages with tenants and pilots about the voluntary noise abatement
procedures, always noting that safety always supersedes noise.
Findings:
The Palo Alto Airport remains one of the busiest general aviation Airports in the Bay Area with an average
of 158,280 operations per year since 2011. The year 2021 marks the second year of the Covid-19
Pandemic and during this time, operations increased by 45,856 which is a 34% increase during 2021
compared to the 2020 calendar year and it’s the highest amount of operations since 2015. An operation
is defined as either a takeoff or a landing and a touch-and-go procedure will account for two operations.
During the 2021 Calendar year, the Airport logged 253 total noise complaints from 27 households. Table
2 shows the number of complaints by quarter and includes the totals from 2020.
Table 3 sorts the complaints logged into three sections. The first one is PAO which includes all complaints
that involve aircraft that performed an operation at the Airport. The next section is General which includes
complaints that did not include a specific aircraft or incident of noise. These complaints may or may not
involve aircraft from PAO. The last section is Non-PAO, which include aircraft that are not based or did not
operate at the Airport. These flights may include California Highway Patrol, Coast Guard, Air Taxis, Pipe
Table 1. Airport Operations for Palo Alto Airport
Year Air Taxi Military Total Year Air Taxi Military Total
2002 62 1 208,755 2012 1,700 16 176,564
2003 17 1 212,981 2013 1,628 14 172,653
2004 619 12 199,453 2014 1,518 22 179,900
2005 2,397 28 184,821 2015 1,082 118 172,132
2006 1,932 17 176,570 2016 708 52 153,238
2007 1,440 318 181,883 2017 872 146 148,769
2008 1,697 280 174,332 2018 760 133 146,181
2009 1,650 301 155,556 2019 920 63 150,266
2010 2,077 6 158,217 2020 620 45 112,712
2011 1,572 8 170,389 2021 566 23 158,568
Avg 1346.3 97.2 182295.7 Avg 1037.4 63.2 157098.3
Table 6. Observed violations of voluntary noise abatement procedures Table 2. Complaints Received
Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Total 2021 Total 2020
Complaints 143 60 36 14 253 514
Households 10 11 23 10 27 29
Surveys, Stanford Life Flight, Angel Flights, and or banner towing operations. Also included in Table 3 are
the totals for 2020.
Table 4 below provides a detailed breakdown of the 253 complaints by City. Most complaints came from
the City of Los Gatos, with 171 complaints logged from 1 household and most of the complaints on the
first and second quarter of this year. The City of Palo Alto had a total of 39 complaints from 8 households.
Table 5 below shows the general type of aircraft identified as causing noise complaints at the Airport.
There are 2 types of engines for aircraft utilizing PAO. The first is reciprocating which is similar to an
automobile engine, and the second is turboprop which is a turbine engine with a propeller that produces
thrust. Aircraft are further differentiated by “multi” and “single” which denotes the number of engines
for the aircraft. As Table 5, shows single reciprocating aircraft produced the largest portion of noise
complaints. This class of aircraft represents most of the fleet at PAO and usually consists of Cessna, Piper
and Cirrus aircraft.
Table 3. Aircraft Association
Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Total 2021 Total 2020
PAO 138 59 31 14 242 262
General 4 0 6 1 11 96
Non-PAO 1 1 6 13 21 104
Table 2. Complaints Received Table 4. Noise Complaints by City
City C H C H C H C H C H C H
Palo Alto 4 2 10 4 19 9 6 3 39 8 38 4
Sunnyvale 1 1 1 1 2 1 85 1
Menlo Park 3 2 2 2 5 2 28 3
Saratoga 0 0 232 2
Los Gatos 129 1 42 1 1 1 171 1 77 1
Los Altos 1 1 1 1 37 3
Portola Valley 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2
East Palo Alto 1 1 2 1 6 4 3 3 12 3 3 2
Santa Cruz 1 1 1 1 2 2
Santa Clara 1 1 2 1 1 1
Fremont 1 1 1 1 2 1 0 0
NA 1 1 1 1 2 1 9 8
San Jose 4 1 2 2 6 1 0 0
Woodside 1 1 1 1 0 0
Moutain View 1 1 2 1 2 1 5 2 0 0
Atherton 1 1 1 1 0 0
Pescadero 1 1 1 1 0 0
143 10 60 11 36 23 14 10 253 27 514 29
Total 2020Q2Q1Q3Q4Total 2021
Table 6 below shows the number of violations of the established noise abatement procedures. Airport
staff makes every effort to talk to all pilots that violate these procedures, but it is difficult to talk to all
transient pilots about noise abatement procedures. It is not the role of the FAA Air Traffic Control Tower
to advise pilots of the noise abatement procedures, however, the City has developed a working
relationship with the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) and Air Controllers do advise pilots of the noise
abatement procedures when they have the ability to do so.
Table 5. Aircraft Type
Helicopter
Multi
Reciprocating Multi Turbo Prop
Single
Reciprocating Single Turbo Prop Unknown
2020 Complaints 9 11 11 347 22 10
2021 Complaints 8 8 4 200 24 9
Table 6. Observed violations of voluntary noise abatement procedures
Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Total
Tenant 4 3 3 1 11
Transient 0 1 3 0 4
Unknown 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 4 6 1 15
Complaints 143 60 35 14 153
Operations 34,500 41,100 45314 30644 158568
% Compliance 99.90%99.90%99.90%99.99 99.99
Following is a noise contour map for PAO, adopted by the Santa Clara County Airport Land Use
Commission (SCC ALUC) in their 2008 Comprehensive Land Use Plan, reflecting the forecasted noise
contours for Palo Alto Airport in 2022.
SCC ALUC used the Integrated Noise Model which considers airport altitude, mean temperature, runway
configuration, aircraft flight track definition, aircraft departure and approach profiles, aircraft traffic
volume and fleet mix, and flight track utilization by aircraft types. All data is entered into the CNEL formula
to prepare the noise contours for Palo Alto Airport.
The 65 decibel (db) noise level of the Airport extends beyond the airport boundaries, but is only over Palo
Alto Golf Course, Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, and the salt marshes in San Mateo County.
Refer to https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/DocsForms/Documents/ALUC_20081119_PAO_CLUP.pdf, for
a more detailed description of how the SCC ALUC prepared this map.
Attachment A
PAO Noise Contour Map
2022 Forecasted Palo Alto Airport Noise Contour Map
Attachment B
PAO Pilot Handout
Santa Clara County created a Pilot Handout for Palo Alto Airport that described the noise abatement
procedures. When the City of Palo Alto assumed control of the Airport, the existing noise abatement
procedures were adopted, with one exception, “pilots must maintain 1,500 feet or above across
Highway 101” was replaced with “Aircraft are asked to climb to and maintain at least 1,500 feet before
crossing Highway 101.” The change is consistent with the voluntary nature of noise abatement
procedures as Airports are Federally prohibited from instructing pilots how to fly.
Bayside Pattern – 800ft
Left
270
Right
270
Peninsula Side
Pattern – 1000ft
Left
Dumbarton
Departure
Not to be used
for navigation
Safety First
Be Aware Palo Alto
Airport Lies under SFO
Class B Airspace
Key
Pattern
Noise Abatement Departures
RWY 31
RWY 13
Noise Abatement Procedures
Please fly neighborly and be aware of the surrounding
communities. There are noise sensitive areas to the west
and south of the Airport. Aircraft are asked to climb and
maintain at least 1500 feet before crossing Highway 101.
Fly over the bay whenever possible.
Please use reduced power setting whenever possible to
reduce noise impacts. Even a reduction in a 200 RPM can
significantly reduce noise.
Safety Always Supersedes Noise Abatement
Palo Alto Airport General Information
Bayside Pattern Alt – 800 feet
Peninsula Side Pattern Alt – 1000 feet MSL
ATCT hours of operation – 0700 – 2100 hrs
ATC / CTA Frequency – 118.600
ATC Ground Frequency – 125.000
Fuel Frequencies – 122.85 or 122.95
Airport Office Phone # – (650) 329-2444
320
Preferred West Bound Departures
Runway 31
Left Dumbarton Departure
When departing runway 31 turn right 10 on takeoff and climb over the bay. Fly straight to
Dumbarton Auto Bridge before making a left turn to fly over the peninsula or to the south.
Cross Highway 101 at or above 1500 feet.
Left 270 Departure
After takeoff climb over the bay while making a 270 turn and heading west or south over the
peninsula. Cross Highway 101 at or above 1500 feet.
Runway 13
Right 270 Departure
After takeoff turn right over and climb over the bay while making a 270 turn and heading west
or south over peninsula. Cross Highway 101 at or above 1500 feet.
Palo Alto Airport asks for
your cooperation in reducing
the noise impact of aircraft
on the neighboring
communities.
BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR – FLY SAFELY AND QUEITLY
CAUTION
The Palo Alto Baylands preserve
is located immediately to the
north of the Airport. Watch for
birds on or near the Airport.
Be alert for bikes & pedestrians
crossing a levee road 290’ from
departure end to Runway 31.
Attachment C
Map of Palo Alto households
This map shows the approximate location and number of complaints from households within Palo Alto. This map was
generated using GIS by Airport staff.
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