A top official in the control tower at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport conceded Monday that the federal government should have revealed sooner that it was sending more flights over some neighborhoods.
"When we made that decision ... we didn't realize the impact, quite frankly," said Carl Rydeen, assistant air traffic manager.
"We didn't realize the number of flights that would happen."
Rydeen offered his assessment at a meeting of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, whose members stressed the need for better disclosure. The commission said it didn't learn of the change -- made after a near-crash about a year ago -- until last month.
"Should we have advised?" Rydeen asked. "We probably should have."
Commissioner Rick King told Rydeen it's important "when you do make a change, whether you perceive it to be significant or not, that we discuss it."
Flights over the Keewaydin and Ericsson neighborhoods on the city's south side increased by about 25 percent from January through August from 2010 to 2011. Air traffic from a runway closest to the neighborhoods jumped 33 percent.
Homeowners began noticing the extra noise in the spring but were puzzled by the cause. The Federal Aviation Administration, which runs the tower, was routing additional departures over the neighborhoods as a safety measure after a near-collision between a commercial jetliner and a cargo plane in September 2010. The routing, which already had been in effect for most flights, reduced the potential for planes to cross flight paths.
