"Business jets, which are 8 eight percent of aircraft action, contributed
almost 92 percent of the civilian noise exposure."  Doesn't that say it
ll? 

Bedford Minuteman
July 12, 2001

Report details plane noise increase
By Barbara Forster, correspondent

" More " is the most frequent conclusion in Massport's recently released
1999 Noise Exposure Levels Report for Hanscom Air Field.

Tower counts for 1999, which include all arrivals and departures, totaled up
to 197,302, an increase of 7.7 percent from 1998 or more than 14,000
additional operations. Turboprop activity, which included Shuttle America's
commuter operations, increased 30 percent. Without Shuttle America, this
category would have remained stable.

Since 1993, overall operations have stayed below the 200,000 mark. Prior to
the 1990s, it is necessary to go back to 1962 to find levels below 200,000.
In 1970, Hanscom reached its peak activity at 300,000-plus operations.

The original 1999 report was issued in November 2000, but Massport techies
discovered that a bug in the new computer system affected some of the data.
The greatest impact was on operations during October, November, and December
which shifted the fleet mix for 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Also, the 1999 civilian
departure EXP was 0.1dB greater than originally reported.

Business jets, which represented 8 percent of aircraft activity, increased
18.6 percent from 1998. In fact, 1999 marked the seventh consecutive year of
growth in this category. Non-single engine piston civilian aircraft - jets -
averaged 48.58 daily departures, an increase of 11 percent as compared to
1998 and the highest of all the study years.

November was the busiest month for jets, with an average of 58.11 daily
departures. The low was in January with only 41.62 departures.

Air traffic between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. jumped from 1,390 in 1998 to 1,622 in
1999, a 17 percent increase. Jets accounted for 45.2 percent of this figure,
helicopters 26.3 percent.

According to the numbers, civilian operations were up by 8 percent. Although
all categories of civilian aircraft have higher usage, the 8 percent figure
correlated directly with a rise in activity by single engine piston planes.
The exception is twin engine piston planes, which dipped slightly from 51 to
50 percent.

Military flights, which represented less than 1 percent of the total
activity, decreased 18.5 percent as compared to 1998.

Of the 552 civilian aircraft subject to the nighttime field use fee, 29 had
more than five operations.

Almost 500 operations, or 81 percent, which were medical emergency flights,
were exempt from the fee. Since 1996, night operations have exceeded 1,000
due partially to medical helicopter transports.

Other exemptions include military, Federal Aviation Administration, Civil
Air Patrol, and aircraft based at Hanscom that use the airport at night
because of unavoidable circumstances such as weather or FAA delays.

The nighttime field use fee, instituted in 1980, is based on aircraft
weight. Planes less than 12,500 pounds pay $40 per night operation; those
over that limit are charged $295. The fee doubles after five night
operations in a calendar year. Twenty-one years ago, the fees were $20 and
$150.

In 1999, the departure noise exposure for civilian aircraft was 113.0
decibels, a decrease of 0.1 dB as compared to 1998 and 0.9 dB above the 1987
base year. For the fourth time, the noise level was greater than the base
year.

Business jets, which are 8 eight percent of aircraft action, contributed
almost 92 percent of the civilian noise exposure.

EXP is a metric used since 1982 as a first-round screening procedure to
assist in evaluating the impact of changes in the fleet mix and the number
of operations. The metric does not show how noise levels change in specific
communities, but it does provide a tool for distinguishing civilian noise
from military noise. EXP also indicates changes in the total noise exposure


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