AIRPORT NOISE FINE LEVIED JUST ONCE.

Byline: Sabrina Decker Staff Writer

BURBANK - In the five months since the Burbank Airport Authority increased penalties for aircraft that violate noise regulations, only one operator has been fined, authorities said Thursday.

A Boeing 707 operated by Jett Clipper Johnny LLC of Wilmington, Del., and managed by Avjet Corp., a local operator, was fined $3,000 on March 22.

The aircraft was powered by an older, noisier Stage 2 engine, which falls under the airport's mandatory 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew. The aircraft had been equipped with a quieting device known as a hush-kit, but the owner paid the fine rather than give proof of the hush-kit's level of effectiveness, authority spokesman Victor Gill said.

Historically, such violations occur very infrequently - of the more than 300,000 flights at Burbank Airport in the past two years, there have been only 36 enforceable noise violations, Gill said.

The fine for nighttime operators of the noisier Stage 2 aircraft was tripled in February, from $1,000 to $3,000. Airlines conducting nighttime training operations, engine run-ups and use of only half the runway during takeoffs saw fines double from $500 to $1,000 for a first violation, and from $1,000 to $1,500 for subsequent violations.

One of the main reasons for increasing the fines - for the first time since 1981 - was to demonstrate to local residents that the airport is serious about enforcing noise regulations, Gill said.

Burbank Airport has spent years grappling with local residents over the nighttime noise issue, and the possibility of an across-the-board nighttime curfew on all flight activity.

Most airlines currently operate under a voluntary 10 p.m.-to-7 a.m. curfew, but for aircraft with older, noisier engines and certain noise-generating flight activities the curfew is already mandatory.