aircraft

FAA and MWAA Solicit Feedback on Aircraft Noise in Arlington

By Mariah Joyce

Plane landing at Reagan National Airport, as seen from Gravelly Point (photo by Alex)Next Thursday, June 18, Arlington residents will have the opportunity to air their concerns about noise pollution from planes heading to and from Reagan National Airport.

Residents have said that such noise is affecting their quality of life.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the Metro Washington Airports Authority, in partnership with Arlington County, are hosting a community meeting in the County Boardroom at Courthouse Plaza (2100 Clarendon Blvd, Room 307).

The meeting will run from 7-9 p.m., and is designed to “allow Arlington County residents to voice their concerns to the FAA and MWAA, as well as hear possible solutions from FAA and MWAA.”

This is not the first time residents have raised the issue of noise pollution; in 2011 late night runway renovation prompted numerous noise complaints from residents in homes along DCA flight paths.

In July of that year the MWAA hired the ITT Corporation to monitor noise in the communities near the airport in response to numerous complaints.

All who are impacted by the aircraft noise are encouraged to attend the meeting.

Photo courtesy Alex

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Stag at Arlington National Cemetery (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)

Japanese Noodle Bar Coming to Ballston — Yona, a new Japanese noodle bar and Korean-inspired small plates restaurant, is coming to 4000 Wilson Blvd in Ballston. It will be the third restaurant from restaurateur Mike Isabella in the building. Isabella’s Kapnos Tavern is expected to open there next month and his Pepita cantina is expected to open in the first quarter of 2015. [Washington Post]

Leonsis Praises Ballston — Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is a big fan of Ballston, where the Capitals have their Kettler Capitals Iceplex practice facility. In a blog post responding to reports about the Wizards looking for a practice facility in either D.C. or Arlington, Leonsis wrote that “we feel fortunate that [the Capitals] ended up in the welcoming community of Ballston.” [Ted’s Take]

Wakefield Wins First Playoff Game — The Wakefield Warriors football squad celebrated its first-ever playoff victory on Friday. Wakefield will next face undefeated Tuscarora in the second round of the 5A North Region playoffs. Washington-Lee and Yorktown both lost their first-round playoff games. [InsideNova]

‘State of Affairs’ Producer Lives in Arlington — Rodney Faraon, a father of three whose 14 years as a CIA analyst helped inspire the NBC drama “State of Affairs,” is an Arlington resident. Faraon serves as an executive producer on the show, which premiered last night. [Washingtonian, WNEW]

Plane Complaints Explained? — Over the past couple of years, numerous Arlington residents have made occasional complaints about hearing what sounded like a single-engine plane flying overhead for an extended period of time. At the time, there was no ready explanation for who or what might be flying around Arlington. However, some now think those planes might have been flying for a recently-revealed Justice Department cell phone spying program.

Soccer Tourney For At-Risk Kids — A 9th annual soccer tournament for at-risk kids was held in Arlington on Sunday. [WTOP]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Flags on the Arlington County courthouse and detention facility buildings (photo courtesy Bill Ross)

APS To Use ‘Big Data’ to Prevent Dropouts — Arlington Public Schools held a contest this summer for “big data” companies to analyze its student performance data, and plans to use the newly-released results to predict which students are at risk of dropping out of school. The winning company, Deep Learning Analytics, found that APS should refine its data collecting techniques. In addition, it found that, along with attendance, behavior and coursework, socioeconomic standing is a predictive indicator for school dropouts. [Arlington Public Schools]

Military Jet to Land at DCA — The Scorpion, a new military fighter jet, will land at Reagan National Airport on Saturday. The jet — manufactured by Textron AirLand LLC — will stay in a DCA hangar for a week, for marketing purposes. [InsideNova]

County Launches New Blog — Arlington County has launched “Natural Arlington,” a new blog to discuss environmental issues in the county. Recent topics include a discussion of green frogs, the environmental issues with dog poop, and a post about the sale of native plants at local nurseries. [Natural Arlington]

Road Closure for Street Fair — Part of 9th Street S. will be closed in the area of Walter Reed Drive for the annual Prio Bangla Potho Mela street fair. The event is taking place Saturday morning. [Arlington County]

Photo courtesy Bill Ross

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Aerial view of the Pentagon and Pentagon City (photo courtesy Mary Dominiak/Experimental Aircraft Association)

Free Burgers for Feds — Because the federal government shut down early this morning, Z-Burger is following through on its offer to serve free burgers for all federal and D.C. workers who have been furloughed. The local burger chain, which has a location at 3325 Wilson Blvd, near Clarendon, says customers must present a government ID to get the free burger.

Task Force Recommends More School Buses — An Arlington Public Schools task force has recommended that the school system’s bus service be expanded, at least for elementary school students. Elementary students should be supervised on their way to school, said the task force, which also said that buses are safer and produce less traffic than cars. [Sun Gazette]

Arlington Startup Raises $100 Million — Arlington-based Evolent Health has raised a whopping $100 million in its latest funding round. The health management company expects to rapidly hire and develop technology in order to meet heavy demand from the hospital industry, spurred on by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. [Washington Business Journal]

Crystal City Showing Resilience — Despite heavy military job losses caused by the Base Closure and Realignment Act, Crystal City is starting to bounce back and find new tenants to fill vacant office space. Property owners are also using the tough times to upgrade or redevelop older buildings. The office vacancy rate in Crystal City stands at 24.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent in 2011. [Washington Post]

Vintage Plane Flies Over Arlington — The photo above was taken from a Ford Tri-Motor, the first mass-produced airliner in the world. Built in the 1920s, the plane has been carefully maintained and, on Saturday, flew over Arlington in a flight organized by the Experimental Aircraft Association. [EAA]

Photo courtesy Mary Dominiak/Experimental Aircraft Association

Plane Gets Stuck in Mud at DCA

By ARLnow.com

Delta plane stuck in the mud at DCA (photo courtesy @vtspaeth)A Delta jetliner somehow became stuck in the mud at Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon.

Around 3:45 p.m., Delta Airlines flight 1763, bound for Minneapolis, left the taxiway pavement while taxiing to the runway, according to airport spokesman Christopher Paolino. The plane’s right side landing gear then became stuck in the turf.

No one was injured during the incident, and all passengers were offloaded, returned to the terminal and rebooked on different flights.

“The airport’s main runway remained open and landings and departures continued while airport personnel worked to free the aircraft,” Paolino said. “The plane was pulled free at approximately 7:15 p.m.”

Photo courtesy @vtspaeth

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Lands at DCA

By ARLnow.com

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed at Reagan National Airport around 10:50 this morning as part of an international promotional tour for the aircraft.

The widebody jetliner (wingspan: 197 feet) will spend the next few days parked at the airport, before departing on Friday morning, according to Boeing. Government and airline officials and members of the media are among those expected to be invited to tour the aircraft during its time at DCA. No public tours are planned.

According to Boeing, the jetliner — first put into commercial service in October 2011 — is outfitted with “special cabin features including a welcoming entryway, dramatically larger dimmable windows, bigger bins and dynamic LED lighting.” The 787 is noted for its use of lightweight composite materials, which helps make it 20 percent more fuel efficient than similar-sized airliners. It’s also designed to be quieter and  more comfortable for passengers than older models.

Today’s landing (see: video) was unusual for Reagan National, since widebody aircraft typically do not operate out of the airport. The plane will depart DCA for Dallas, Texas on Friday.

Last fall the Arlington County Board approved plans for Boeing to build a new regional headquarters near Crystal City.

Photos (top, bottom right) courtesy Boeing. Photo (bottom left) courtesy Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

 

Scaled-Back Airport Construction Hours May Relieve Late Night Jet Noise

By ARLnow.com

Arlington residents may get some much-desired relief from the noise of planes landing at night.

Earlier this year crews started nighttime rehabilitation work on the main runway at Reagan National Airport. That work directed planes landing after 11:00 p.m. to another runway, which in turn steered them over a larger portion of Arlington. Some frustrated residents have told ARLnow.com that since the construction started they have been woken up several times by loud, low-flying jets.

The late night runway change also steered planes heading in from the south over portions of southeast and southwest D.C. That prompted D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton to send letters to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority last week, asking for an end to the redirected late night flights.

“Residents have continued calling [Holmes’] office, saying that they have experienced deafening, terrorizing noise and lights from planes flying directly over their homes in the dead of night,” the delegate’s office said, in a press release.

In response to the letter, the airports authority announced that it was scaling back the start of construction from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., leaving the main runway open later. The change took effect last Friday. The main runway will continue to reopen at 6:00 a.m. following the overnight construction.

“This will significantly reduce the number of late-night flights using alternate flight patterns to reach the airport,” MWAA said.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Residents Decry Aircraft Noise — Noise from airplanes landing at Reagan National Airport is “seriously affecting residents’ quality of life” in the Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights neighborhood. Residents told airport representatives at last night’s civic association meeting that the noise has gotten considerably worse since nighttime repair work on the airport’s main runway began in May. [Ode Street Tribune]

Pike Resident Named Roommate of the Year — Columbia Pike resident Jesse McLaughlin has won free rent for a year and $10,000 cash after being named the Apartments.com Roommate of the Year. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office employee’s cooking and cleaning prowess helped him beat out nine other finalists for the title. As it turns out, Jesse’s roommate is actually his girlfriend, Lisa. [Roommate of the Year Contest]

Ride Planned for Capital Bikeshare Birthday — To celebrate Capital Bikeshare’s first birthday, and its one millionth ride, Bike Arlington is planning a celebratory ride into D.C. The convoy will be meeting at locations in Rosslyn and Crystal City tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., and will ride to Yards Park in the District. [CommuterPage Blog]

Flickr pool photo by Airpolonia

Get Ready for Some Early Morning Noise

By ARLnow.com

It may be a long night if you’re a light sleeper. Two separate training exercises are threatening to make some noise in the Arlington area during the wee hours of the morning.

First, a “series of training flights” is planned between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m.

In a series of training flights held in coordination with the FAA, an exercise will take place between 3 and 5 a.m. Wednesday morning in the National Capital Region. Depending on flight patterns some Arlington residents may be affected.

Then, the Presidential Salute Battery will once again be conducting cannon firing drills in Arlington National Cemetery, starting at 6:30 a.m.

The Presidential Salute Battery will be conducting firing drills in Arlington National Cemetery June 15 from 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. The training is being conducted before the cemetery opens to not interfere with ongoing memorial services. This training ensures the unit maintains the highest level of ceremonial proficiency necessary to render proper honors to our nation’s fallen servicemembers and veterans.