A Torrance-based squadron of antique warbirds that practice regularly in the skies over the South Bay and often perform Memorial Day flyovers have become embroiled in a lingering conflict over aircraft noise.
The Tiger Squadron was targeted in emails fired off by a local resident who complained about the group’s noisy airplanes and claimed “many residents have complained to me.” She speaks for an unknown and apparently nonexistent group called the Southeast Torrance Neighborhood Association — not to be confused with the legitimate Southeast Torrance Homeowners Association — and said the “problem was addressed at a recent meeting.”
At the same time, an anonymous resident believed to live beneath the Torrance Municipal Airport flight path allegedly has harassed the same group of pilots by sending untraceable emails and making anonymous hang-up calls in the dead of night, said founding Flying Tiger member Craig Ekberg.
One of those emails, complaining about the squadron’s “arrogant pilots,” apparently angered an aircraft noise consultant named Jon Rodgers. He, in turn, sent out emails urging aircraft owners to buzz the homes of complaining residents.
“Let’s turn the tables on these rude neighbors and the city of Torrance,” he declared in an email to pilots. “If you are based at another airport, whenever the fancy strikes, make your way over to Torrance and fly over the south Torrance area just to make a lot of noise and disturb these people — even wake them up so they’ll wear out the Torrance Noise Complaint line.
“The city of Torrance refuses to run its airport correctly,” Rodgers added. “Instead of hustling noise complaints and using them to harass and intimidate pilots, they need to manage their communities to take the noise and not bother pilots no matter how much noise they make.”
Additionally, the Torrance Airport Association — a group of pilots based at Zamperini Field — is circulating emails contending “vigilantes” have threatened to “escalate” their actions if pilots continue to fly low over homes. They say the “illegal activity” has been reported to local police and federal agencies, including the FBI.
“One pilot has reported receiving eight ‘hang-up’ phone calls at his home at 3 a.m.,” said an email from the TAA. “One can only guess what “escalation” they plan against the pilots (who, by the way, are flying totally within the law) or their families.”
The Torrance Police Department and the FAA say there are no ongoing investigations into the issue.
The tangled web of charges and counter-charges is an outgrowth of the simmering dispute over aircraft and helicopter noise that has enveloped Southern California, with no sign of resolution. Repeated failures to reach any kind of agreement to reduce noise appears to have both sides digging in for the long haul.
“It’s going to be difficult to come up with any compromise because everyone is so mad at each other,” said Deputy Community Development Director Linda Cessna, who oversees noise issues at the airport and often receives an earful from people on opposing sides of the issue
Indeed, the divide seems to be deepening.
Rodgers, for instance, is unapologetic.
“This is my work and I make no apologies for it,” he said via email.
He has made similar suggestions in Lake Tahoe, for instance, raising the ire of local government officials there.
“Airports need to work with the community in every way possible,” Truckee Tahoe Airport General Manager Dave Gotschall told the Tahoe Daily Tribune in 2009. “To alienate or go after the community is wrong-headed. Where is that going to get you at the end of the day?”
While Tiger Squadron’s Ekberg similarly distanced the group from Rodgers’ comments, noting that its goal is to fly neighborly, he also said the six-month-long harassment campaign might trigger a lawsuit.
“It’s a shame we have to go and spend money on an attorney to put an end to this,” Ekberg said. “We’re flying airplanes totally legally with no issues from any government agency, including Torrance’s own noise-abatement procedures, and yet individuals are essentially harassing us at home in our personal lives. You can only sit back so long.”
It appears that concerns about aircraft noise are not widespread, however.
The TAA noted in a recent email that only 12 people accounted for more than half of the 352 airport complaints filed over a 14-month period. Cessna confirmed only a handful of people are responsible for the vast majority of complaints.
“We will have people who file five or six complaints a day,” she said. “Once you get sensitized to (noise), it’s really hard to turn off.”
Still, residents weary of aircraft noise over their homes are unrepentant.
Jim Bouiez, who lives in Torrance near the border with Redondo Beach, said he has spent the past 18 months complaining about the squadron, to no avail.
But last week a person who identified himself as a member of the squadron showed up on his doorstep.
“He made it clear that he did not want any complaints made against the Tiger Squadron,” Bouiez said. “As you probably know, an email was also sent to Torrance residents threatening us with intentional noise and a warning that we had better learn to ‘take the noise.’
“These pilots have no regard for residents or regulations, “ he added, “and behave as if they are above reproach, in my opinion.”
Meanwhile, the FAA now is aware of Rodgers’ suggestion to pilots and has one of its own for anyone who believes an aircraft is flying too low anywhere.
“Airplanes must be at least 1,000 feet above the nearest structure when they’re flying over residential neighborhoods — except, of course, if they’re in the process of landing or taking off,” said spokesman Ian Gregor.
“If someone thinks a pilot is flying too low, they should document the flight as thoroughly as possible and present the evidence to the FAA. If we determined the pilot appeared to be violating regulations, we would start an investigation.”
Note: Republished to correct spelling of Craig Ekberg’s name.
