I’ve reached out to FAA and King
County International Airport officials to get a more
complete picture of air traffic in the area, and I’ll post whatever
information they provide. In the meantime, I’ll share some of
the additional reader input and flight track graphics we’ve
received.
Comments posted in response to the story online were mostly of
the “those islanders always find something to complain about”
variety, but I also heard from a number of Bainbridge and North
Kitsap residents who had concerns and observations regarding
airplane noise. Here’s a sampling:
“In the twelve years we have lived here, this past summer is
the first time we have been bothered by the noise. As I noted, this
year the frequency of the flights has increased greatly and the
planes are flying at lower altitudes than in previous years.” –
Kathy, south Kingston
“My concern is these flights are too low for one
thing. At night the strobe lights up my back yard on approach
as I’m on a hill and I know the plane is closer than 2,000 ft at my
house off Eagle Harbour. I believe our senator and US
Congress reps should be involved but it’s King County Airport where
the flights are coming in over my area.” – Jim, Bainbridge
Island
There are a few nifty websites
for tracking flights in real time. The top image is from
FlightAware. The bottom image is from WebTrak.
“When I am outside, my impression is the noisy jet aircraft
are significantly below two thousand feet altitude (hence noisy),
flying north, are in level flight (or gradually descending). While
trees limit my visibility to a few miles it appears they are on
final approach (northbound) into Paine Field.” – Frank, Bainbridge
Island
“On sunny Summer days the wind is almost always out of the
North and aircraft take-off in that direction. Formerly south
bound aircraft would first climb several thousand feet towards
the Alki area before turning south west over the Puget Sound. This
south bound flight pattern appears to be no more. Rather,
aircraft taking off to the north still level out over Alki,
but are now all first vectored west directly over Bainbridge
Island. These changes mean we are getting pounded with jet
aircraft noise as never before.” – Christopher, southeast
Bainbridge Island
“I have been blasting a fan in my room every night so I can
sleep. Even with the fan running, last summer I was jolted &
scared out of a deep sleep by a close, loud plane that was shaking
my bedroom & it sounded like it was heading for my bedroom window &
I could see bright lights through my blinds. It felt as if
there was a war going on around us!!” – Susan, Bainbridge
Island
“Go figure…..BI residents are complaining about airplane
noise. That’s what you get for living near Seattle which just
happens to have an airport near by. Some on BI feel that they can
stomp their feet and gets things their way. Hate to say it but you
are not the only ones in this state so get over it.” – sanjagtl,
online commenter
Typical south flow
Even if you don’t have a problem with airplane noise, it’s still
interesting to know what’s going on in the air above the island and
peninsula.
Sea-Tac provided us with flight tracks from typical
north flow and south flow days for the original story. They
showed how planes are routed heavily over the island on north flow
days (typically clear summer days), while planes are routed away
from the island on south flow days (overcast days).
Officials also sent Bainbridge Island City Manager Doug Schulze
graphics comparing flight tracks over the last few years. Schulze
was kind enough to pass those charts along.
Below is a look at flight tracks from north flow days in 2010,
2012 and 2013. According to these graphics, there has been
virtually no change in recorded tracks in and out of Sea-Tac in the
last four years:
Full sized versions of these graphics can be viewed
here,
here and
here.
These tracks show arrivals and departures at Sea-Tac, but what
about all the planes flying to and from other airports? Sea-Tac
provided another dizzying graphic showing overflights above Puget
Sound during a 24 hour period. This was Sept. 1, 2013:
Much of this traffic originated from King County International
Airport (Boeing Field), as well as the sea plane base in Renton.
These include many small planes and cargo planes.
A number of commenters alluded to route changes taking place due
to the Greener Skies
initiative, which aims to reduce emissions and noise in the
Seattle area. I’m waiting for more information on this, but from
what I understand the project is being implemented in phases with
only a few airlines participating thus far.
Feel free to drop me a comment below or email me at
tad.sooter@gmail.com.
4 thoughts on “Flying over Kitsap: More comments and more flight tracks”
This article is very interesting for we have experienced low flying commercial airlines over our home near Meadowmeer. They come over as early as 4:30 am and then later in the afternoon.
The Gods Must Be Crazy for one of these airlines left me a gift of a pair of channel lock pliers. They fell off the plan and lodged into the back yard about an inch into the ground.
Mind you, if this was a piece of ice the FAA would be on it in a heartbeat. However, I never received a reply from the FAA in Renton when I emailed them to ask where they wanted the pliers to be sent. One would think that they would at least be curious as to why this strange email was sent to them?
This is very interesting and I am glad someone published it. I have been having similar frustrations with the low flying aircrafts. The other night a plane flew VERY close to my house and shook the windows and scared the heck out of me. And the frequency has increase substantially over the years. Its not only commercial flights but its personal aircrafts and helicopters. And to the person saying that it is just Bainbridge islanders tring to get their way… you’re wrong. I live in Kingston and have this same problem. Make it stop!!!
I, too, have been hearing more aircraft flying over, in the past year. They are lower, and fly late at night, as well.
So, for people to say that Bainbridge is the only one complaining, I disagree….I am right there with them on this one, and I am near Jackson Park, for over 13 years.
I recall one, in particular, that woke me UP, and I thought, oh no, we are going to war.
I wouldn’t want to listen to air traffic all day and night long, but I love it when a huge, low flying aircraft rattles my windows. Nothing better than seeing an old B-17 or a 747 skipping across my horizon. Except maybe seeing the Blue Angles streak over at about 500′!
This article is very interesting for we have experienced low flying commercial airlines over our home near Meadowmeer. They come over as early as 4:30 am and then later in the afternoon.
The Gods Must Be Crazy for one of these airlines left me a gift of a pair of channel lock pliers. They fell off the plan and lodged into the back yard about an inch into the ground.
Mind you, if this was a piece of ice the FAA would be on it in a heartbeat. However, I never received a reply from the FAA in Renton when I emailed them to ask where they wanted the pliers to be sent. One would think that they would at least be curious as to why this strange email was sent to them?
This is very interesting and I am glad someone published it. I have been having similar frustrations with the low flying aircrafts. The other night a plane flew VERY close to my house and shook the windows and scared the heck out of me. And the frequency has increase substantially over the years. Its not only commercial flights but its personal aircrafts and helicopters. And to the person saying that it is just Bainbridge islanders tring to get their way… you’re wrong. I live in Kingston and have this same problem. Make it stop!!!
I, too, have been hearing more aircraft flying over, in the past year. They are lower, and fly late at night, as well.
So, for people to say that Bainbridge is the only one complaining, I disagree….I am right there with them on this one, and I am near Jackson Park, for over 13 years.
I recall one, in particular, that woke me UP, and I thought, oh no, we are going to war.
I wouldn’t want to listen to air traffic all day and night long, but I love it when a huge, low flying aircraft rattles my windows. Nothing better than seeing an old B-17 or a 747 skipping across my horizon. Except maybe seeing the Blue Angles streak over at about 500′!