Summary Reagan National Airport Community Working Group Regular Meeting (24) July 26, 2018

Transcription

1 Summary Reagan National Airport Community Working Group Regular Meeting (24) July 26, 2018 Date: July 26, 2018 Time: 6:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. Location: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Terminal A Historic Lobby Conference Center Agenda: May 24, 2018 Summary, Working Group Discussion Working Group Members Present: District of Columbia: Marcio Duffles Primary District of Columbia Ward 3 Don Crockett Alternate District of Columbia Ward 2 Maryland: Ken Hartman Primary Montgomery County John Mitchell Primary Prince George s County Accokeek Susan Shipp Primary Montgomery County (late arrival) Edward Williams Primary Prince George s County Ft. Washington William Noonan Alternate Montgomery County Janelle Wright Alternate Montgomery County Virginia: Steve Thayer Primary Alexandria (City of) Ron Montague Primary Arlington County Brian Stout Primary Arlington County Jim Phelps Primary Fairfax County Dranesville Mike Rioux Primary Fairfax County Mount Vernon Carol Hawn Alternate Fairfax County At-Large Don Minnis Alternate Fairfax County Mount Vernon Airlines: Tracy Montross Primary American Airlines Dick DeiTos Primary Metropolitan Washington Airlines Committee Agenda Item 1 Welcome and Updates: David Mould, MWAA Vice President for Communications and Government Affairs: 1A) Approval of May 24, 2018 Meeting Summary: Approved. sph/cs Pg 1/9

2 Agenda Item 2 General Working Group Discussion: 2A) FAA Discussion: David Mould: o Informed the Working Group that FAA is not attending the meeting tonight in light of the State of Maryland s petition in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals alleging that FAA violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it implemented approach procedures at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in 2015; State of Maryland filed the lawsuit on behalf of Marylanders impacted by aircraft noise at DCA and Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). o Earlier today, MWAA received and distributed a letter from FAA that addressed the litigation; letter was addressed to MWAA CEO Jack Potter because MWAA is the Working Group facilitator. o FAA letter stated that after careful consideration, FAA plans to continue engaging with the Working Group but will not be able to discuss the three approaches into DCA at issue in the Maryland lawsuit (River Visual RWY 19, LDA Z RWY 19, and RNAV [RNP] RWY 19). o MWAA hopes to receive additional clarification regarding a new approach procedure currently being discussed between the North of the Airport Subcommittee and FAA. John Mitchell: o Litigation is not a class-action lawsuit, consequently, Working Group members are not party to the lawsuit. It was filed by Maryland Attorney General on behalf of Marylanders. It does not absolve the FAA of the responsibility to alleviate the noise pollution. o Request: FAA attend the next DCA Working Group meeting with a representative from its legal department to assist with answering questions related to FAA s continued engagement after the State of Maryland filed its petition in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Don Crockett (Alternate for Rick Murphy): o Previously, Georgetown citizens filed a similar appeal and the FAA continued to work with D.C. group. Ron Montague: o Challenged why MWAA does not have a legal interest in the litigation proceedings particularly since MWAA s Board of Directors are appointed by the District of Columbia Mayor, Maryland and Virginia Governors and the President of the United States. David Mould: o MWAA has not received any correspondence on this particular matter from the District of Columbia Mayor or Maryland and Virginia Governors. o Working Group has been fortunate to have FAA involvement since its inception and we hope FAA continues to participate. o MWAA will ensure that FAA receives the Working Group s feedback from tonight s meeting. Carol Hawn: o FAA has received very little cooperation from the Working Group over the past three years; Working Group hasn t held up its end of the Charter. If the Working Group doesn t treat FAA with more respect, then we don t deserve to have them participate. sph/cs Pg 2/9

3 2B) South Flow SID s Design Modification (Waypoint ESSZZ): Mike Rioux, South of the Airport Subcommittee Chair Presentation: Modification to Conceptual Departure Procedure, DCA to ESSZZ o Over the last month, there has been an increase in complaints from north Mt. Vernon and Alexandria, VA related to South Flow Runway 19 departures making early turns and flying closer to the City of Alexandria, VA. o Stated the goal is to eliminate early turns over City of Alexandria and fly to Waypoint CAPVC_RC8 as planned. o South of the Airport Subcommittee requested Full Working Group support for a recommendation to FAA that requires South Flow departures: Maintain runway heading 190 from DCA to Waypoint ESSZZ. Eliminate slight right turn of ~ 5 turn toward the City of Alexandria. sph/cs Pg 3/9

4 Maintain Waypoint ESSZZ as a flyby-waypoint to position aircraft on the inside of the waypoint and river center. o Recommendation does not impact procedures south of Waypoint ESSZZ. Mike Rioux introduced Motion with 2 nd : Motion: Recommendation #13 The FAA modify the Conceptual South Flow Runway 19 departure procedure to Maintain 190 heading from DCA to Waypoint ESSZZ; eliminate 5 slight right turn toward City of Alexandria, VA and proceed directly to Waypoint ESSZZ. Working Group Voting Results: o Yay (14): Dick DeiTos, Marcio Duffles, Ken Hartman, John Mitchell, Ron Montague, Tracy Montross, Jim Phelps, Mike Rioux, Brian Stout, Steve Thayer, Edward Williams Alternates: Don Crockett, William Noonan, Janelle Wright o Nay (0): None o Abstain (0): None Motion Update August 2, 2018 Conference Call: Conference Call Participants: o FAA: Deb Hogan, Eastern Service Center, Operations Support Group, Team Manager Matt Cathcart, DC Capital Project, PBN Co-Lead Bill Wise, DC Capital Project, PBN Co-Lead o Working Group: Mike Rioux, South of the Airport Subcommittee Chair o MWAA: Mike Jeck, Noise Information Office Manager Discussed and confirmed the conceptual South Flow Runway 19 departures will fly 190 heading to an initial altitude of 500 ft. and proceed directly to Waypoint ESSZZ. Conceptual procedure eliminates 5 slight right turn toward City of Alexandria, VA. Conceptual flight path will be ~3 farther east, away from City of Alexandria, as seen in graphic: Red Flight Track: Green Flight Track: Conceptual - new Existing - old September 27, 2018 Meeting: Working Group will discuss rescinding Recommendation #13. sph/cs Pg 4/9

5 2C) Flight Path and Altitude Analysis Mike Rioux, South of the Airport Subcommittee Chair Presentation: Flight Track Analysis South of DCA Operations sph/cs Pg 5/9

6 Freedom of Information request was submitted to FAA to obtain flight track data for analysis of arrival/departure ground tracks, trajectories, altitudes and frequency for Data presentation was only for January 1, 2017 through September 30, Denoted on the plots are key neighborhoods, noise monitors, arrivals/departures and distance rings from the airport; stated that noise monitors are incorrectly placed in communities. Altitudes were measured as aircraft enter neighborhood boxes, which are varying sizes to capture flight track corridors. Short cut turns observed in 10-15% of operations. Contrary to previous FAA statements, data indicates that aircraft are flying lower than the published 2,500 ft. minimum altitude over neighborhoods. Although some observations were infrequent, aircraft were observed at altitudes as low as: o Sherwood Hall Lane (VA): North Flow arrivals: 1,500 ft. South Flow departures: 2,200 ft. o Mt. Vernon (VA): North Flow arrivals: 1,500 ft. o Ft. Washington (MD): North Flow arrivals: 1,500 ft. South Flow departures: 2,500 ft. o Accokeek (MD): North Flow arrivals: 1,500 ft. Conclusion: o Altitude is a key noise factor. o FAA has stated that there is no plan to change flight paths over Maryland. o However, a big impact could be achieved if minimum approach altitudes were increased over Ft. Washington and Accokeek, MD. Discussion: o William Noonan (Alternate for Paul Janes): Can a similar analysis be completed for 2014 as a comparative to identify changes? o Mike Rioux: The analysis requires considerable work but we will look into a 2014 comparison including aircraft types and altitudes. o Ken Hartman: FAA has stated that modern aircraft have difficulty losing speed and altitude when approaching the airport; has the national airspace system had to modify approach procedures to adapt to improved aircraft technology? o Janelle Wright (Alternate until Susan Shipp s arrival): During the Working Group s tour of the Potomac Consolidated TRACON, FAA stated there are technologies that could be implemented to raise altitudes at DCA, i.e. Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS.) o Ron Montague: Working Group needs to consider how other regional airports impact operations at DCA, specifically, IAD, BWI, College Park Airport, Montgomery County Airpark, Davidson Army Airfield and Andrews Air Force Base. sph/cs Pg 6/9

7 Altitude restrictions are done for specific reasons. For example, aircraft are low south of the airport because Andrews Air Force Base traffic climb to 3,000 ft. Other aircraft can t be at 4,000 ft. when military aircraft are crossing at 3,000 ft. Multiple factors determine aircraft position at 10 nm from the airport. o John Mitchell: Referenced Slide 15: If there were safety issues, we wouldn t see so many flights above 3,000 ft. Data distribution indicates there are altitude choices for flights. Accokeek, MD receives twelve times more arrivals than departures. Recommended the data be presented to FAA. o Mike Rioux: Purpose of data was to refute FAA s statement that aircraft do not fly below the 2,500 ft. minimum altitude over neighborhoods. o Carol Hawn: Recommended MWAA relocate the noise monitoring terminals for both airports. o Mike Jeck/MWAA Noise Information Office Manager: Clarified the noise monitor locations were analyzed by the Study Advisory Committee during the last Reagan National Airport Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study Update. The Advisory Committee, overseen by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, recommended MWAA retain the current noise monitor locations with the option to add future noise monitors. o Sandra Hoch/MWAA Noise Information Office: MWAA is often criticized that the noise monitors are in the wrong locations. When the first generation noise monitors were installed in 1978, in consultation with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government, they were located along the flight corridors that align with operations at Reagan National and Dulles International Airports. Noise monitors are only used to track historical noise trends relative to the 65 DNL contour. For example, in 1989, the Georgetown noise monitor, NMT #6, was inside the DCA 65 DNL contour. However, the use of modern aircraft has significantly reduced the contour and NMT #6 is now located well outside the DCA 65 DNL contour. o Mike Rioux: Hypothetically, the data could be analyzed to identify aircraft type and operator as well as establish criteria to rank airlines by low altitude, specifically, which airlines comes over Accokeek, MD at 1,800 ft. o Ken Hartman: Prior to submitting to FAA, recommended the Working Group identify what action is requested of the FAA and who should be involved in the conversations, i.e. raising altitudes, verification of minimum altitude adherence. o Mike Jeck: Supported William Noonan s recommendation to compare 2014 versus 2017 to identify changes in altitude, aircraft type and frequency. sph/cs Pg 7/9

8 o John Mitchell: Welcomed the 2014 versus 2017 data comparison but rejected the notion that the Working Group needed to wait until the analysis is complete before data is presented to FAA. FAA needs to take reasonable steps to mitigate the noise our community is currently experiencing. o Mike Rioux: Committed to working with the community member, who submitted FOIA request and conducted the analysis, to provide a historic comparison. A significant difference may be identified given that NextGen was implemented in D) Next Meeting: Discussion: o Dick DeiTos: Moved to cancel August meeting and reconvene in September. o Ken Hartman: Requested appropriate subcommittee meetings in the interim; subcommittee chairs will notify MWAA of any necessary subcommittee meetings. o Dick DeiTos introduced Motion with 2 nd : Motion: Working Group will cancel August 23, 2018 meeting and reconvene for regularly scheduled meeting on September 27, Working Group Voting Results: o Yay (13): Dick DeiTos, Marcio Duffles, Ken Hartman, John Mitchell, Ron Montague, Tracy Montross, Jim Phelps, Mike Rioux, Susan Shipp, Brian Stout, Steve Thayer, Edward Williams Alternate: William Noonan o Nay (1): Alternate: Don Crockett o Abstain (0): None Action Items Prior to Next Meeting or Future Meeting: FAA: FAA will attend the next DCA Working Group meeting with a representative from their legal department to assist with answering questions related to FAA s continued engagement after the State of Maryland filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals alleging that FAA violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it implemented approach procedures at DCA in Working Group: Motion: Working Group will cancel August 23, 2018 meeting and reconvene for regularly scheduled meeting on September 27, sph/cs Pg 8/9

9 Reagan National Airport Community Working Group Recommendation # 13 (Approved July 26, 2018) The Reagan National Airport Community Working Group recommends: The FAA modify the Conceptual South Flow Runway 19 departure procedure to Maintain 190 heading from DCA to Waypoint ESSZZ; eliminate 5 slight right turn toward City of Alexandria, VA and proceed directly to Waypoint ESSZZ. Motion Update August 2, 2018 Conference Call: Conference Call Participants: o FAA: Deb Hogan, Eastern Service Center, Operations Support Group, Team Manager Matt Cathcart, DC Capital Project, PBN Co-Lead Bill Wise, DC Capital Project, PBN Co-Lead o Working Group: Mike Rioux, South of the Airport Subcommittee Chair o MWAA: Mike Jeck, Noise Information Office Manager Discussed and confirmed the conceptual South Flow Runway 19 departures will fly 190 heading to an initial altitude of 500 ft. and proceed directly to Waypoint ESSZZ. Conceptual procedure eliminates 5 slight right turn toward City of Alexandria, VA. Conceptual flight path will be ~3 farther east, away from City of Alexandria, as seen in graphic: Red Flight Track: Green Flight Track: Conceptual - new Existing - old September 27, 2018 Meeting: Working Group will discuss rescinding Recommendation #13. sph/cs Pg 9/9