Toronto Star August 27, 1997
Overnight test flights just landings, official says
No noisy takeoffs allowed in secret Pearson tests
By Mike Funston
Toronto Star Staff ReporterSecret overnight flights at Pearson International Airport during the past six months have involved two landings a day of passenger jets between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., an official said.
"There were no takeoffs," airport spokesperson Bruce Reid said yesterday. "And since January, we've had only eight (test-related) noise complaints."
However, when news of the test flights was made public, the airport was flooded with 70 complaints, Reid said.
There would have been no outcry if the public had been told about the tests in advance, Mississauga Councillor Maja Prentice said.
Prentice, who made the information public, agrees that such tests are needed to gather noise data.
"Obviously, we can't expect them to share the time and dates of these flights. But they should have announced that it was going to happen.
"I've found that when you tell people what's going on, they usually don't complain. When you don't do that, there's a tempest,'' said Prentice, who serves on the airport noise committee along with residents and airport officials.
Blind tests had to be done to obtain objective results on the noise impact, said Louis Turpen, president of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.
Restrictions on flights by the big passenger jets are in place between midnight and 7 a.m., and depend on the type of jet and the noise it generates. Small aircraft, such as courier jets, don't face the same restrictions.
For example, quieter jets such as the Airbus series, Boeing 757s and 767s, can't operate between 12:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Noisier aircraft such as Boeing 727s or DC-9s are restricted between midnight and 7 a.m.
But a limited number of exceptions to these rules are allowed for delays relating to mechanical problems, weather, security or air traffic control delays.
The number of flights using the airport, including small aircraft, between midnight and 7 a.m. averages about 58, with the majority of flights (about 29) occurring between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., according to authority figures.
Airport noise is a major issue in Mississauga and Etobicoke, with tens of thousands of residents affected.