Photo credit: howderfamily.com licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
This article by Arianna MacNeill on Boston.com reports that noisy planes flying over the small town of Hull may soon be a thing of the past.
About 10,000 people live in Hull, located on a peninsula on the southeastern end of Boston harbor. No, they aren’t buying quieter planes to fly over Hull. Planes landing at Boston’s Logan Airport (three letter code BOS) and especially those taking off fly right over Hull, but as reported their flight paths will soon change.
MacNeill writes:
On Thursday, the FAA and Massport implemented a new strategy that has planes taking off from runway 15R make their turn further north, away from the “densely populated” areas of Hull.
The other change goes into effect on December 30 and involves planes landing at Logan on runway 33L. The maneuver gives pilots the option of coming in over the water, away from Hull.
Of course, Hull residents have been complaining about aircraft noise for years, and the FAA has been working on this since 2016.
The FAA’s mission includes air travel safety and efficiency, with nary a concern for the health and welfare of those living near airports and especially those living under the flight paths.
Aircraft noise has now been shown to be a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with the mechanisms of how it damages the heart and blood vessels understood down to the cellular and molecular levels.
We hope the federal government will take steps to fulfill the promise of the Noise Control Act of 1972: “The Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States to promote an environment for all Americans free from noise that jeopardizes their health or welfare.”
