Noise Complaints


Lately, most of the noise complaints have been about Mile Hi Skydiving's Twin Otter.  Depicted below is the area where the Mile-Hi Skydiving airplanes "shall" remain while operating.  This is known as the "LMO Parachute Operations Area" as defined by the FAA facility who controls this airspace (Denver Terminal Radar Approach Control or TRACON).  In addition, they must also remain below 17,900 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL).


View Mile-Hi Box in a larger map
As you can see, this area is quite large and extends west to Hwy 7/36 and south to Gunbarrel and Boulder Reservoir.  This area is located where it is based on other traffic that traverses the area, most notably Denver Intl arrivals from the northwest and departures to the west.  This area is literally wedged in between those operations.  There is no other place north or east to move the skydiving operations. There has been talk of moving Vance Brand Airport to the east.  Even if that were the case, the above depicted box would probably remain in the exact same position.


Want to read updates about the "noise" lawsuit against this longtime Longmont Airport skydive business? Per your request, we have now created a new link here: CFQS vs MHS

Noise complaints are public record and must be supplied by the city authority receiving them.

At a public meeting on June 3, 2015, City of Longmont Aviation Attorney consultant John Putnam cited FAA Compliance Manual Order 5190.6B, Chapter 13, part 13.16 with regard to answering a submitted question about airport noise complaint filings: (You can find the entire FAA document here) but he talked specifically about this part: "Complaint data (i.e., from homeowner complaints filed with the airport) are generally not statistically valid indicators or measurements of a noise problem. Therefore, complaint data is usually not an acceptable justification for a restriction."
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