A federal appellate court ruled Monday in favor of the City of Los Angeles in a lawsuit claiming the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t adequately consider the environmental consequences of a change in its flight patterns into Los Angeles International Airport over mid-City and central Los Angeles.
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer hailed the court’s decision, saying the FAA changed its flight patterns in 2018 without any public input or consideration.
VICTORY. As the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the City deciding that the FAA violated three key environmental laws when it changed flight patterns in 2018 for aircraft coming into LAX over mid-City and Central Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/gZtLBXbuIg
— The Office of Mike Feuer, L.A. City Attorney (@CityAttorneyLA) July 12, 2021
“It’s one thing for residents to have been involved. That’s not what happened here,” Feuer told KNX.
“What happened here is that residents awakened to find increased airplane noise that was disrupting their lives with no input if that disruption was justified in any way.”
Feuer said residents in the affected areas complained of noise, as well as having windows and home structures rattled by airplanes on final approach.
As a result of the ruling, the FAA is required to conduct an environmental impact study that includes input from city leaders and residents along the affected flight paths.
Feuer said the current flight patterns will remain in effect until the FAA’s environmental review is finished, but getting to this step was important.
“We are fighting as hard as we can for the city of Los Angeles and its residents against a very powerful federal agency,” he said. “We’re asking that be required it to be accountable and be assured it complies with rules that are there for a reason.”
