Low Flying Planes Spooking Downtown Residents
By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 8, 2010 8:42PM
Tribune "Getting Around" columnist John Hilkevitch points out an increasing occurrence of commercial aircraft flying lower in the Loop. This being post-9/11 America, the frequency with which this is happening has some downtown residents and high-rise office workers that the aircraft are flying below their minimum height requirements.
Hilkevitch writes that, according to FAA procedures, commercial aircraft are required to maintain a minimum height of 4,000 feet withing the Lake Michigan shoreline, and 5,000 feet over the lake itself. If the flight pattern goes through downtown, aircraft have to maintain a minimum of 2,000 feet above the tallest skyscraper. Planes flying over Willis Tower, at a height of 1,730 feet, have to maintain a minimum altitude of 3,730 feet, then.
Hilkevitch, not satisfied with he initial answers given to him from FAA officials, requested the radar data from Chicago TRACON, the FAA radar facility in Elgin to confirm flights were at the required thresholds.