Palm Springs homeowners complain about flight patterns of planes taking off from PSP

Scott Gill and John Barrowman looked over documents and correspondence which detail their complaints about passenger planes and fighter jets taking off from Palm Springs International Airport.

“When they turn really as they are doing, increasingly, it means they’re climbing as quickly, they’re in higher power settings, in turn, they make a lot more noise, they expose a lot more residents in this area to noise,” said Gill.

Gill provided a map, which he said illustrates their claim, that two to three times a day, pilots are veering off in a northeasterly direction, immediately after take off, rather than following a straight path, beyond the Palm Springs city limits.

Gill asserted the straight line on his map is the take off path “recommended” by the FAA.

Their home on Farrell Drive is in the area flown over by planes quickly veering right after takeoff.

“We want flights to continue, we want more airlines in Palm Springs, however, we want them to stick to the correct take off,” said Barrowman.

The couple says planes cause “excessive noise” when flying over their home, and in one instance, Gill says their sliding glass door shattered, when a military jet flew over head while flying from the airport.

Barrowman provided video of what he said was a similar fly over.

The men describe themselves as “aviation enthusiasts, and say they purchased their home 5 years ago, in part, because of its proximity to the airport, because they enjoy watching planes taking off.

They say it was about two years ago when they noticed the takeoffs happening over their house, occurring regularly, about two to three times a day

Gill and Barrowman say over the past couple of years, they called the airport “Noise Hotline” to voice their complaints, but said those calls were not returned.

News Channel 3 spoke with City Manager David Ready to ask what the city would do to address the couple’s complaint.

“We don’t have a significant amount of flights, but the ones that are there, if there is something we can do to modify their flight pattern, or something, we certainly can make those inquiries to the FAA,” said Ready.

The statements below were provided in response to the complaint:

Written statement from Ulises Aguirre. Assistant Airport Director at Palm Springs International Airport:

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), through the local air traffic control (ATC) tower, has responsibility for all aircraft when landing at or taking off from an airport. Commercial airline flights are required to file a ‘flight plan’ that identifies the route the flight intends to follow. Palm springs International Airport staff confirmed with the FAA that the arriving and departing flight paths at Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) have not changed recently and are designed to maximize safety due to the surrounding mountains and other important factors.”

Written statement from Ian Gregor, Communications Manager, FAA Pacific Division:

All U.S. commercial airports have standard departure routes, and the current departure routes for Palm Springs have been in place for many years. The standard departure procedure off runway 31 has aircraft fly straight for five miles before making their turns. Because of surrounding terrain, pilots generally follow these routes closely. Wind direction can sometimes affect flight performance, and it’s important to note that Palm Springs sees a large increase in traffic volume in the winter months.