Facts

Falcon Field:

• Zoning permitted residential neighborhoods to surround Falcon Field for more than 20 years.
• (Check back for aerial views of FF and surrounding areas.) Now, check GoogleMaps for current aerial views of Falcon Field and surrounding neighborhoods.
• The City of Mesa changed the business strategy for Falcon Field to a flight-training airport: Growth at any cost?

Sabena Air Training Center:

• A foreign corporation, training foreign student pilots for foreign commercial airlines.
• In 2007, Sabena moved from Scottsdale Airport to Falcon Field with 25 training aircraft. Today, with 50 single and twin-engine planes and 2 jets, Sabena trains 400 students per year.
• Trainees have little or no aviation experience, and for many, English is a second language.
• Sabena uses riskier 737-type commercial training procedures. (See 'Safety' and 'Noise' below*.)

Sabena's Impact on Falcon Field:

• As of December 2008, daily take-offs and landings represented almost 900 flights per day.
• Between 70% and 80% of all flights at Falcon Field are Sabena flights.
• Consistently increasing levels and duration of noise to surrounding neighborhoods.

Long-Term Impacts:

• Noise footprint is expanding farther from Falcon Field.
• Large flight schools discourage quality aviation-related businesses that may desire to locate and/or stay at Falcon Field and the surrounding industrial park.
• Crowded runways and constant tower/student radio communications inhibit normal flow of air traffic, and tax the capabilities of tower controllers.

Safety:

Accidents:

• (4) training accidents within 1 mile of Falcon Field the past 2 years.
• (1) Sabena fatality (Dec. 20, 2008) on a flight originating at Falcon Field.

Danger Factors:

• The risk of accidents by inexperienced, barely proficient pilots has increased exponentially.
• Language barrier: new students struggling to understand aviation directives and communicate in English, not their primary language, while in a high-stress training environment.
• *Sabena's 737 commercial-type flight-training patterns are much riskier, both to those under and near the flight patterns, and to the private pilots caught in the patterns.
• 'You-Tube' videos (keyword: Sabena) reveal harrowing training experiences conducted over our neighborhoods.

Noise:

• Sabena training flights: 7 days a week day and night, 362 days a year; start as early as 5 a.m.
• *With their long, low 737 commercial take-off procedure, and almost 800 flights per day, the noise pollution seems never-ending.
• Sabena puts up to 12 planes in a single touch-and-go pattern, each plane generally making between 8 and 12 take-offs and landings/per hour.
• Sabena students frequently take off at a rate of 1 every 80 seconds during peak training hours.

Cost: Falcon Field/Sabena vs. Mesa Residents:

For Mesa/Falcon Field:

• Sabena operations provide minimal economic benefit to The City of Mesa/Falcon Field.
• Increasing cost of wear and tear to airport facilities.
• Potential tenants have avoided Falcon Field due to extended departure delays, flight patterns and difficulty in communicating with the tower.
• Certain current, long-term tenants are considering leaving Falcon Field for the same reasons.

Mesa Residents:

• Significantly higher levels of noise and airplane related pollution affect health and well-being.
• Quality of Life has been negatively impacted:
  • Difficulty sleeping at night.
  • Unable to enjoy our backyards due to noise and air pollution.
  • Outdoor meetings have had to be moved indoors.
  • Can't even open our windows in our beautiful weather without being inundated by near constant flight noise. Difficult to hear phone calls and television/music.
• Property values in surrounding neighborhoods will ultimately decrease as the training continues to impact our area in multiple ways.