Low planes over North Park start buzz

“I didn’t see the plane,” said Jean, “but I heard it and noted how incredibly low it was.”

Jean, 61, is a yoga instructor from the Montclair area of North Park (by Commonwealth Avenue and Juniper Street), who, like many neighbors in the vicinity, have recently noticed low-flying airplanes. “I thought that maybe a smaller plane had come into the airspace, like in 1978,” she said, “and in the back of my mind I didn’t want to see a crash.”

Another neighbor, Betsy, who lives on Gregory Street by McKinley Elementary School, noticed an airplane. “We were eating a late dinner around 6:45ish (on May 24) and suddenly we heard a plane that sounded very loud and very low,” she said. “It got louder and we stopped what we were doing to listen. It sounded like it went right over our house.”

On May 24, a thread called “Did anyone else see that Southwest jet?” was posted on the Nextdoor social media app. Shortly after, neighbors confirmed the “recent, low flying, loud and out-of-the ordinary airplane.”

One North Park resident relayed some possibilities on why the airplane seemed “a little close to home,” as one neighbor said.

“There are a number of reasons a plane might be out of place in the pattern, but they’re rare, so people notice it even more when it does happen,” he said, and he defined them:

"Missed approach: If the tower ‘waves off’ an aircraft on final approach, usually they fly directly over the runway, climb out once past the far end, and get vectored back around for another approach.

"Wind Change: Planes like to land heading into the wind. On those few days (think Santa Anas) when the wind changes direction, approach control might advise an aircraft to break off their approach due to the change in landing direction. Then they have to turn over North Park, otherwise they’re flying head on into approaching aircraft.

"Vectors for spacing: SoCal Approach, which handles low-altitude plane traffic, loves it when incoming aircraft line up in their respective jetways and hit the outer marker (beginning of final approach) spaced 3 1/2 minutes apart like clockwork; plane after plane. It maximizes landing capacity, avoids pile-ups and thus delays and added fuel burn."

Betsy teaches at a school that is (normally) directly under the commercial airplanes’ flight paths. Although she is used to them overhead during class time, the recent activity by her home creates a different vibe. “It’s a helpless feeling to hear a plane coming at us so quickly and know there’s nothing we can do if it’s coming down,” she said, “I don’t worry about a commercial jet crashing on my house — except on those few occasions when they fly through my neighborhood.”

Janine Rodriguez, 59, is a homemaker who remembers the 1978 crash of PSA Flight 182. “It was an unforgettable tragedy,” she said, and especially with the recent lower flybys. On Tuesday she noticed a “low and loud” airplane; then the next day, she was walking by her house on Ridge View Drive and Fairmount Avenue between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., she then noticed another plane. “The planes usually fly to the south of me, and that plane (on Wednesday) was to the north,” she said, “it appeared to be over the 15 freeway.”

Matt Thompson, a North Park resident, is familiar with airport operations and what can cause aircraft to be redirected over residential areas. He investigated the time and location of the alleged Southwest airplane in question on Wednesday; he then cross-referenced the information with the FlightAware website. “The pilot executed a non-standard missed approach for unknown reasons and was directed to the right of the flight path putting him at low altitude (1100′ AGL) over South Park near Grape Street,” he said. “Then [the pilot] directed to make a 180° turn over Bankers Hill, flew east over University Avenue, and then made two right-hand turns; one south over Montclair/Altadena and then again west over South Park to complete a short final approach, and landing.”

Thompson added the information of the possible flight schedule of the alleged plane witnessed by the neighbor who made the original post.

Origin: KSFO

Departure: 17:23 PDT May 24 2017

Destination: KSAN

Arrival: 18:53 PDT May 24 2017

An inquiry was made (via email) to FlightAware to validate Thomson’s assessment of the airplane in question, but as of presstime no response was made.