This letter is in reply to the letter in the Oct. 18th edition of this paper from Dr. Victor J. Barry.

As a personal acquaintance of Dr. Barry, I feel that he mistakenly inhaled some of the laughing gas that he would normally give to his dental patients and it has caused him to misstate facts and use a form of fuzzy math. There were several points made in his letter that I think folks in my neighborhood would wholeheartedly disagree with. Some of these facts have been reported in this very paper.

Dr. Barry started by saying that Dow Constantine (our representative on the county council) is protecting his constituents from unnecessary plane noise. Isn't that why we elected him in the first place?

In the proposal that the residents of Queen Anne and Magnolia have put forth, it simply moves the noise from one neighborhood to another. This practice is not allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration and they have a long history of not doing this.

The letter gives the impression that the noise levels would be the same but it has been reported and proven several times that the noise level would have a greater impact on our residents. A number of noise impacts would be felt by West Seattle residents: 1) Planes fly at a higher altitude over Magnolia and Queen Anne than they would if the flight path were altered to bring it closer to the Duwamish River basin, since we are so much closer to Boeing Field, 2) Putting planes over water increases the amount of ambient noise that would be dealt with from Alki all along the Duwamish river, as opposed to being over land, which absorbs some of this noise.

The letter also states that the flight path would be moved "only" 7 degrees, but in real terms this amounts to about one-half mile closer to our Pigeon Point neighborhood. A little fuzzy math at work here, folks. Vic states that this moving of the flight path would put the planes on the same course as those planes flying into SeaTac use. This is not really correct since those planes are at a much higher altitude and do not have the noise impact that flights into Boeing Field impose on Pigeon Point and adjoining neighborhoods here in West Seattle.

So I would argue that the FAA is correct in not agreeing to even consider this issue since the primary reason for the change is to quiet the residents of other neighborhoods complaints. The existing flight path has been used for over the last 40-plus years. According to information from the Federal Aviation Administration, the only reason to change a flight path is for passenger or pilot safety and neither of those issues are in play here.

The residents of Magnolia and Queen Anne have been waging this flight path change issue for about 10 years now and we must continue to be vigilant and not let them push their issue on to us here in West Seattle.

Pete Spalding

Pigeon Point