FAA to Honor Grand Canyon Quiet Zones
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PHOENIX — Federal officials will stop diverting overflow air traffic from Grand Canyon Airport over flight-free zones that were created because of noise complaints and numerous fatal crashes.
The Federal Aviation Administration said heavy air traffic has forced controllers to direct some planes into the zones.
“There may be eight or nine airplanes attempting to land, so, for safety reasons, they encroach on the no-fly area,” an FAA spokesman in Los Angeles said.
Jack Washington of the FAA’s Las Vegas office wrote to the Grand Canyon Trust, an environmental group, on Dec. 21, informing it that the FAA would halt the practice. The letter was made public this week.
Washington said that transportation officials, tour operators and environmentalists will meet to discuss possible alternatives.
Four flight-free zones were created in 1988 in an attempt to reduce noise and increase safety around the canyon. Accidents involving sightseeing aircraft there have claimed at least 83 lives since 1980.
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