Culver City can join lawsuit filed by the City LA challenging FAA flight path modifications at LAX.
By Sam Catanzaro
A federal appeals court has approved Culver City’s request to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the City of Los Angeles, challenging modifications made by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in flight paths for landing aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision on Aug. 22.
The cities’ legal action argues that the new flight paths were implemented without separate environmental review and proper public notice and input.
“Even though the FAA’s changes may potentially cause more aircraft to fly over Culver City and surrounding communities, with resulting noise and air quality impacts in addition to the impacts of the already-implemented Southern California Metroplex project, the FAA chose to perform no environmental review for the new arrival routes. In addition, the FAA refused to allow access to its website for citizens who may wish to comment on the effects of the proposed changes,” says the City of Culver City.
Culver City will be joining the City of LA and the FAA in court-ordered negotiations to resolve the issues in a way acceptable to all parties.
Culver City is in the flight path for landings at LAX, when planes are coming from the north and the west, crossing over certain parts of Santa Monica and other areas of the Westside, flying through Culver City, as the planes head further east before turning around to make their final descent into LAX.
