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Violations of the curfews at East Hampton Airport declined by nearly half in the summer of 2016 from the previous year, with most violations still coming on the fringes of the stated curfews, primarily those tighter time limits imposed only on aircraft deemed to be especially noisy.
Town officials said there were 38 violations of the curfew over the past summer, compared to 64 in 2015, out of more than 10,000 “operations” by aircraft.
Earlier this year, consultants working for the town reported that curfew violations were extraordinarily rare considering the amount of air traffic at the airport and that the rules, imposed in 2015, were nudging aircraft operators into time periods that were less impactful on residents.
The curfews bar all aircraft from the airport between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. and especially noisy ones between 8 p.m. and 9 a.m.
Most of the offenders issued summonses this year pleaded guilty to the violations in Town Justice Court on Monday and paid fines of $500 per violation. The highest fine, $2,000, was paid by FlexJet, which had four violations.
A dozen of the violations remain pending for a future court date and several others were set aside or dismissed because they were issued in error or because there were special circumstances: like the U.S. Secret Service ordering the planes carrying Hillary Clinton to land before the morning curfew window so that they could be given a close safety examination before departing with the presidential candidate and her campaign entourage.
on Nov 1, 2016