New FAA guidance attempts to decrease noise for residents living near Reagan Airport

WASHINGTON - Starting last month, there will be a small reprieve from airplane noise to Northwest D.C. residents along the Potomac River.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the guidance to pilots on how to land at Reagan National Airport has changed to encourage pilots to fly over the Potomac River as they make their descent to DCA. This specifically applies to landing planes, not departures.

Ken Buckley is the Chair of the Palisades Committee on Airplane Noise. He says this will particularly impact landings on low-visibility days.

"You really notice it on cloudy days, where instead of flying over MacArthur Boulevard, they’re still sticking to the river," Buckley said.

Buckley says pilots usually opt for straighter-line landings, particularly on bad weather days, which leads to flights directly over Northwest D.C. neighborhoods into DCA.

Buckley says he’s been working on this particular issue since 2018 and the FAA has been receptive to this.

The FAA says they work closely with community stakeholders, government officials, airports, the airlines when they make a change like this, which requires a lot of study.

"The FAA continuously works to help reduce the number of people exposed to aviation noise in communities around airports. Addressing this concern requires collaboration among the FAA, air carriers, airports, aircraft manufacturers, research universities, local communities and elected officials," the agency said in a statement.

Katie Kehoe is a longtime Northwest resident who says she notices the planes flying over her home, particularly on bad-weather days.

"When the weather gets lousy, it’s really remarkable. It’s right over my house, and then I do notice it," Kehoe said, "I would just like to see it a little better during bad weather. That’s my issue because that affects me."

While the FAA says it’s always working to reduce exposure to aviation noise and Ken Buckley tells me there are several other components he’s still working on to lessen the impact on residents in the DMV.

One of those efforts is a change similar to this one to reduce the noise impact on people who live south of DCA.