Residents ask Santa Monica City Council to agendize airport training flights over noise and lead concerns

Matthew Morose, a resident of East Venice, told the Santa Monica City Council that piston-prop training flights out of Santa Monica Airport have surged, saying operations climbed as much as 70% in recent months and urging the council to place flight patterns on a future agenda."These are student pilots performing touch-and-go maneuvers circling East Venice every few minutes at low altitude for hours at a time," Morose said, adding that many pilots "are not following SMC's own 'fly neighborly' guidelines."

Bridget McBride, also an East Venice resident, told the council she and neighbors have collected a petition of about 1,050 signatures and described the local impact: repeated flyovers every three to five minutes, difficulty working from home, and persistent noise that she said makes it "impossible to have a meeting because of the noise from flight school planes." McBride cited a higher estimate of a 102% increase in touch-and-go procedures and said she had reviewed flight radar data showing multiple small aircraft circling neighborhoods.

Both speakers framed the issue as more than a nuisance. Morose said Santa Monica Airport "has been identified as one of the highest lead emitters in LA County" and asserted that training aircraft burn leaded avgas that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes as hazardous to public health. McBride read excerpts from neighbors explaining impacts on work, sleep and children's exposure.

Council members did not take an immediate vote on next steps during public comment; Mayor Trosis and staff were asked to follow up with the speakers. The council meeting later included an update on the airport conversion planning process and a request from staff that the community review a draft framework and respond via smacproject.com by the stated April 27 public-input deadline.