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Airport

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1. What type of airport is Ormond Beach Municipal Airport (OMN)?

OMN is defined as a General Aviation Reliever Airport. The term general aviation refers to all civil aircraft that are not classified as air carrier, commuter, or military in nature. A reliever airport pulls private aircraft away from the air carrier airports to reduce air traffic delays and increase safety. An air carrier airport is an airport that provides regularly scheduled passenger and freight service.

2. Why are planes allowed to take off and land late at night?

OMN is a public use airport and obligated by the Federal Aviation Administration to be open 24 hours, available to all aircraft.

3. Why do I notice increases and decreases in the number of airplanes that fly over my house?

Residents near the airport may notice fluctuations in air traffic activity because OMN has four runways pointing in different directions. Aircraft will use the runway that allows for the safest take off or landing. Aircraft generally need to take off and land into the wind, and smaller aircraft are more sensitive to wind conditions. Therefore, depending upon the direction and intensity of the wind on any given day, residents may not see a single plane overhead, and on other days they may see quite a few.

The active runway for OMN is dictated by the direction of the wind along with the active runway at other airports in the area. Pilots flying into OMN will not be allowed to use an approach that would conflict with the approach being used at nearby airports, like Daytona Beach International Airport. Safety and aircraft separation are the air traffic controller’s main priorities.

4. How does the weather and season affect aircraft noise?

Individuals will usually notice an increase in aircraft noise during warmer months, when windows are open and people are outside. During hot and muggy summer days, aircraft climb performance decreases. They stay lower longer and more power is required to climb. A low cloud ceiling will also insulate the noise, especially apparent during helicopter operations. As air density increases and the air is cooler and dryer, air molecules are closer together resulting in the sound conducting better, traveling longer, and sounding louder.

5. Are there regulations on how low aircraft can be?

There are three scenarios for aircraft: departure, landing, and en route. When aircraft are taking off or landing there are no minimum altitude requirements. When en route, fixed wing aircraft must maintain at least 1000' over congested areas and 500' over other areas. Helicopters have no minimum altitude requirements.

6. What limitations prohibit OMN from establishing restrictions on airport operations?

On November 5, 1990 the U.S. Congress enacted legislation known as the Airport Noise and Capacity Act. As a result, Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 161 was established to limit the ability of airports to restrict access to an airport based on noise. Congress enacted the legislation to balance the interests of the aviation industry and airport neighbors. In addition, Interstate Commerce laws prohibit anyone to “in any way or degree obstruct, delay, or affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce” (18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951(a)).

7. How can I make a noise complaint?

• Call the airport manager, Steven Lichliter, at 386-615-7019.


• Send an email request that includes the above information. Email Steven Lichliter.

If the airport manager is not available to speak with you, please leave a message containing the following information: your name, address, and telephone number, the time of day that you were disturbed, the type of aircraft (jet, propeller, helicopter), the tail number of the aircraft, and any additional description of the event.

8. What happens when I place a noise complaint? What does the airport do with that information?

We research all complaints. When we receive multiple complaints from one operation we will notify the operator, inform them of the complaint, and review our noise abatement procedures. We log all complaints and use the information to identify areas in the noise program where modifications are needed.