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FAA: Most commercial aircraft over Woodside, Portola Valley adhere to noise-reduction rules

Original post made on May 18, 2016

Most commercial aircraft heading to SFO pass over Woodside and Portola Valley at or near the agreed upon altitude of 8,000 feet above sea level, according to a recently published FAA study.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 11:57 AM

Comments (4)

Posted by Jack
a resident of Woodside: other
on May 18, 2016 at 8:07 pm

In Woodside the private planes that constantly circle the area at very low altitudes are by far the bigger noise menace. There must be some instructor that takes his or her students over Woodside to practice or people just want to check out the area. It is especially bad on weekends. Many of these private aircraft are flying way too low.


Posted by Jetman
a resident of another community
on May 18, 2016 at 10:41 pm

If, according to the FAA, 83% of the aircraft are able to cross the beacon at 8,000' or above, why can't the other 17% (mostly arriving from the eastern Pacific) manage to fly the same path safely?

Nearly three years after the crash of Asiana 214 at SFO, is the FAA still allowing incompetent pilots to fly routes from the eastern Pacific over our homes?


"Asiana Pilots Ordered (to take) More Training After 2nd Crash-Landing"
Bloomberg ~ April 15, 2015 Web Link


Posted by Bumpy Road
a resident of Portola Valley: Central Portola Valley
on May 19, 2016 at 12:50 pm

A little misleading, the woodside beacon is at 2270 feet elevation above sea level, so a plane flying in at 6000 feet above sea level is flying only 3730 feet above the beacon itself (assuming they fly directly over the beacon). That's pretty low.


Posted by Palo Alto Resident
a resident of another community
on May 19, 2016 at 5:10 pm

The FAA is also ignoring Palo Alto, where the planes also regularly fly at 3000 feet.

They're basically giving everyone other than the airlines a big middle finger


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