MSP airport neighbors let fly at MAC with noise complaints
People who live near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport say new flight patterns are creating unbearable noise in areas that didn't have the problem before.
Residents packed a Noise Oversight Committee meeting of the Metropolitan Airports Commission on Tuesday night to voice their complaints. Nathan Lind — who lives near Lake Hiawatha — says the trouble began last spring.
"I actually hear the doors and windows rattling when the planes are flying over, long before they are right over my house and long after they pass over," said Lind. "And when it's really bad, the planes are literally flying over every minute."
Lind says he does not live in a noise abatement zone, where the airport pays for sound dampening measures such as insulation and air conditioning.
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Residents at the meeting said the FAA never notified them of the new flight paths.
Twin Cities air traffic control manager Carl Rydeen said the FAA made the change for safety reasons after two planes nearly collided in mid-air last year.
"Our goal is safety: safety of the fleet, safety of the skies, safety for all people both in the air and also on the ground," he said.
The airports commission did not take action on the noise issue.