BRIEFS

The year’s first quarterly noise report was released Friday by John

Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy.

The report, covering the first three months of 2001, documents noise

levels caused by departing and arriving jet aircraft on the homes and

businesses under the flight path.

Using 10 monitoring stations, six of which are in Newport Beach,

airport officials measured the Single Event Noise Exposure Level caused

by the planes.

Commercial aircraft must meet noise caps imposed by the airport’s 1985

settlement agreement with Newport Beach. That deal also divided aircraft

into three noise categories -- Class A, Class AA and Class E.

None of the airport’s 10 carriers exceeded those limits during the

time frame. Data was not available on Aloha Airlines, the airport’s

latest entrant that began flights April 1.

The report also logs complaint calls from eight neighborhoods in

Newport-Mesa. Of those areas, Balboa Peninsula led the way with 101 calls

(79% were from a single household). Balboa Island logged 62 calls.

Residents from Westcliff made 49 calls.

Other areas that complained about noise include Eastbluff (29 calls),

Newport Beach (28), Santa Ana Heights (24), Corona del Mar (11) and Costa

Mesa (10).

-- Paul Clinton