Yeah, the Airspace Over Laguna Beach Really Has Gotten Noisier

Maybe you heard about the recent kerfuffle some Laguna Beach citizens have made over jet airplane noise coming from departing John Wayne Airport flights.

Last week, some folks were incensed enough to complain to the city council about the matter. People from different neighborhoods – from high above at Top of the World to Canyon Acres down below – told stories of sonic assaults committed by commercial jetliners. One woman, who seemed on the verge of tears, described the noise as “maddening.”

Still others in the city either aren’t bothered by the noise or haven’t noticed it. “Within one or two blocks, people have differences on the noise,” said council member Toni Iseman. Her colleagues on the council, though, have noticed. Mayor Kelly Boyd said he and his wife sit outside their house and play guess-the-airline as they pass overhead. Bob Whalen has also observed a change in airline routes over Laguna Beach ...

True, that. We did some research Wednesday, and in four John Wayne departing flights from Delta, United and USAir that left between 12:42 and 1:10 p.m. (bound for Minneapolis, Houston, Atlanta and Phoenix), all four zipped directly over Laguna Beach, each one taking a shortcut from planned routes which normally would pass further south over Dana Point.

Click up the screen grabs we’re posting here from the site flightaware.com, which live-streams flights around the country in real time … the blue dashed lines are the planned routes, while the green solid lines are the actual routes, which clearly go over Laguna Beach and South Laguna.

Snarky conspiracy theory: Are these pilots taking shortcuts over Laguna Beach to avoid angering the space aliens who pilot UFOs over Dana Point and Laguna Niguel, which is pretty much the Area 51 of Orange County?

Probably not, maybe. But what the city does need in order to solve this problem - and find out why, exactly, these airlines are taking shortcuts over our heads - are detailed noise complaints, which officials can then relay to the Federal Aviation Administration. The city has this FAQ page on aircraft noise on its website, which has some good info. You should also let city council members know when you encounter obnoxious airplane noise.

Right here, right now, you can tell Laguna Beach Patch readers your airplane noise story in the comments section below, or over on our gorgeous Facebook page.

And ... if you have video of planes violating your eardrums, feel free to post it to our site yourself right here. We also accept cute cat videos.