October 08, 1996|By Erin Texeira | Erin Texeira,SUN STAFF
An unusually wet summer and a shift in airport flight patterns resulting from summer winds may have led east Columbia residents to perceive an increase in airplane traffic this summer, airport officials said last week.
Unusually thick clouds accompanying the summer's frequent rains may have caused planes to sound lower -- and louder -- as engine noise reverberated off low cloud cover, said Rudy Rudolph, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport's noise abatement director, at an Owen Brown village board meeting.
Moreover, summertime easterly winds mean more planes must use an east-west runway that directs flights west over parts of Columbia, he said.
Rudolph gave his 25-minute talk to about 10 Owen Brown residents and the village board about two weeks after board members requested that he answer residents' questions about airplane noise.
Owen Brown residents, who were convinced that airplane traffic had increased, questioned him about flight patterns and traffic flow.
Rudolph's presentation came the night before airport officials announced that August was its busiest month ever -- up more than 4 percent over the previous August.
But -- contrary to many residents' perceptions of increased airplane noise -- additional passengers did not mean an increase in planes, Rudolph said.
Rather, more planes were booked to capacity than is customarily the case, he said.
Police log
Kings Contrivance: 9800 block of Broken Land Parkway: Someone entered Air Business, pried open an inside office door and stole a guitar and cash sometime Saturday or Sunday.
Owen Brown: 7200 block of Lasting Light Way: Someone stole a blue 1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Sunday. Its Maryland license number is CDE 960.
Pub Date: 10/08/96
