Goodyear Palm Valley residents seek to meet with mayor on airport noise

Goodyear resident complaints about an airport flight school continued during the Dec. 18 regular council session, with noise and altitude concerns as primary concerns they hope to address these with the mayor privately.

The city of Goodyear does not manage or own the airport in Goodyear, but Phoenix does.

In weeks previous, residents have aired grievances about low flight paths and noise allegedly emanating from student pilots at the nearby United Aviate Academy flight school.

Last week, on Dec. 18, those complaints continued.

Goodyear resident Bryan McCarty, who lives in the Palm Valley area north of the airport and Interstate 10, said during the session’s public comment that the noise affects people’s livelihood.

“We can't sleep. We're having trouble working,” he said. “People are working from home with flying over homes and schools for 18 hours a day. It's really, really frustrating.”

McCarty also said since Goodyear staff met with airport staff, the problem has only worsened.

“We appreciate the meetings that Justin and the city manager had,” he said. “But the next day, it increased 60%. So it's not working.”

In the meeting, McCarty said his group contacted the airplane’s design organization, Cirrus, and asked them to run the data for what would happen if one of these student pilots experienced engine failure while flying over the Palm Valley area. According to McCarty, Cirrus’ design group said due to the altitude and distance, the hypothetical student pilot wouldn’t be able to land at the Goodyear airport. 

“They're either deploying their parachute, or they are making an off-airport landing, possibly in our neighborhood,” he said.

In October, Goodyear elected officials met with the city of Phoenix, at length during a work session. On Dec. 18, McCarty said they met with the visiting team but haven’t met with the home team about the issues.

“We need to meet with the mayor. We've formed a group. Please meet with the citizens of Palm Valley. So we can discuss ways to move forward,” he said.

Not following standards

In October, Jordan Feld, deputy director of aviation for Phoenix, told Goodyear’s elected leaders during a work session that aircraft are not going lower than the legally allowable threshold for safe altitudes.

“Because they're in the final approach and landing, it's the pilot's discretion as to how far they're off the ground,” he said. “The lowest I've seen through this area is around 800-900 feet. Generally, it's well above 1,000 feet. They will not only make an effort not to cross I-10, but we'll try to keep it above 1,000 feet above ground level.”

According to FAA minimum flight safety standards, “aircraft may not operate closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure” in other than congested areas. That standard is 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle in a congested area of a city, town, or settlement. It is unclear what the eighth fastest-growing city in America is legally classified as.

According to submitted documents obtained through a public records request, there were at least five instances where altitudes from United Aviate Academy pilots flew under 500 feet near residential areas between Aug. 22 and Aug. 26. Documents also show 30 additional complaints, illustrating altitudes flying below the 800 feet Feld claimed was the threshold of his understanding.

Michael McDaniel can be reached at mmcdaniel@iniusa.org. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.