Advice to muffle D-M is given
By Carol Ann Alaimo
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Military aircraft in Tucson would fly higher, less often and along some different routes if government leaders adopt new advice to muffle some of the thunder from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
Two dozen recommendations to decrease D-M's decibel level and improve community relations were approved on Monday by a committee that has spent the past year looking for ways to protect the base's future while helping residents most affected by military operations.
Among the proposals:
● Raising the altitude of military aircraft to the degree that safety permits, to reduce the noise at ground level.
● Redirecting some pilot-training activities — such as repeated touch-and-go landings — to airfields at Fort Huachuca or in Gila Bend.
● Changing existing flight paths to funnel more helicopter traffic over Interstate 10 and railroad routes.
● When safety permits, having all nighttime flights arrive and depart at the southeast portion of the air base, to reduce impact on residents in the more-populated city center.
● Establishing a committee to find funding for a noise-proofing program for homes most affected by aircraft noise.
● Conducting annual internal reviews at D-M to determine if changes in mission are adding to noise levels over the city.
● Finding a more stringent warning system to alert people buying homes in high-noise areas.
● Improving communication between D-M and the public, including an annual town-hall meeting with base officials at which citizens can raise concerns.
The 24 recommendations were approved by the Military Community Compatibility Committee, whose members represent an array of interests, including school boards, neighborhood groups, business leaders and city, county and state governments. D-M had an advisory role.
The committee rejected a handful of earlier proposals as unworkable, such as a suggestion to make jets land farther inside the boundaries of D-M — an idea that would have been expensive because it would require runway modifications.
The group's advice now will be passed on to various levels of government. Its proposals could become reality, depending on the willingness of agencies involved to put them into action.
D-M's commander, Col. Michael Spencer, said Wednesday that base officials will study the proposals to see what changes could be made.
"We're going to work with the agencies concerned to evaluate and implement the recommendations as flight safety will allow," Spencer said.
Committee member Bill DuPont, who lives in the Colonia Solana neighborhood, near East Broadway and Country Club Road, said the recommendations won't solve every noise issue or appease every resident.
But he predicted the committee's work will lead to some improvements — and at least some of the recommendations will become reality.
"I do believe there will be some positive impacts," said DuPont, who is also a member of the Neighborhood Infill Coalition, a citizen group that is studying city land-use rules.
Finding workable solutions to D-M's noise issues was "incredibly difficult," he said.
"It seems so easy from the outside, but once you get into the complexities of how aircraft maneuver, it was very challenging."
● Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at 573-4138 or at calaimo@azstarnet.com.
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