Residents Near BWI Say They're Tormented By Low-Flying Planes

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Complaints about low-flying planes near BWI skyrocketed. Now Howard County is considering suing the FAA on behalf of angry residents.

Ava-Joye Burnett reports on what people near the airport are doing to prove this is a problem.

Some of the residents told WJZ low flying planes literally shake their homes and disturb the peace. So they started to take their own video and posting them to Facebook to prove it.

Some residents in Elkridge say is too close for comfort.

"It's really really irritating. I have triple glazed windows, I have plenty of insulation in my attic and in my walls and it's still loud enough wake me up at 5:30 in the morning," Barbara Deckert says.

Deckert has criticized the FAA for months, after it unveiled a new flight path.

Instead of planes zig-zagging over the Baltimore-Washington air space, they're now on individual routes. But the downside is they're constantly flying over the same neighborhoods.

Complaints to BWI have drastically increased.

"So it's actually making me decide to actually move further away just to have a better lifestyle away from the planes," Joseph Presler says.

Some cities across the U.S. have sued the FAA over the next gen program, now leaders in Howard County are exploring some of the same options.

"We are not asking for anything unreasonable," says Howard County Councilman Jon Weinstein, who says the FAA has ignored the concerns and now it's time for them to listen.

"The message is, we are talking, we've been polite, we've been stern, and now we're pretty upset," Weinstein says.

But even in the midst of that outrage, others say this traffic is to be expected.

"I like having that ability to drive to the airport in a few minutes, so I think it just comes with the territory," Angie Robinson says.

The FAA would not respond to WJZ's questions Tuesday, but say they will respond.

WJZ contacted the FAA for reaction, but a spokesperson said a response would not be available soon enough to be added to the story.

The FAA says the next gen plan cuts delays by 41 percent.

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