‘Now residents can know exactly what is flying in their area’
Gerry Bellett
Sun
The Vancouver Airport Authority has launched a website that will track the flight paths of commercial aircraft flying over Metro Vancouver.
The website, which can be found at www.yvr.ca/webtrak, allows the public to view flights as they occur with a short delay for security reasons, said South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale MP Russ Hiebert.
“This website is the first of its kind in Canada. It shows in real time where planes are flying, how high they are and it also displays the resulting noise level at several ground monitoring stations, including a brand new one in Crescent Beach,” said Hiebert.
“I am pleased this website is up and running. Residents asked for it so I lobbied NAV Canada to amend its legal agreement with the Vancouver Airport Authority so that flight and noise data could be viewed by the public,” said Hiebert in a news release.
“Now residents can know exactly what is flying in their area. Residents asked for more accountability from NAV Canada and I believe this website is an important step forward,” he said.
There are 20 noise-monitoring stations in Metro Vancouver.
The webtrack displays a map of the region and current flight and noise activity. A visual key identifies aircraft type, elevation and noise level and whether it is arriving or departing.
There is also a function to enable flights to be traced back 30 days as well as a means for residents to place comments.
The website is also the result of lobbying by SCAAN (Surrey Citizens Against Aircraft Noise) and the Surrey Airspace Taskforce after residents complained of aircraft noise pollution as a result of new flight paths being used by aircraft entering Metro Vancouver airspace.
Don Pitcairn, a member of SCAAN and the president of the Surrey United Naturalists, said Hiebert’srelease failed to mention the role played by the two Surrey organizations in convincing the airport authority to provide the data.
“Typical politician trying to get the glory,” said Pitcairn who ran for the Green Party in the Surrey-White Rock riding in this week’s provincial election.
The website shows all planes taking off or landing at the major airports in Metro Vancouver including aircraft using Vancouver harbour.
For security reasons the website won’t show military or RCMP flights.
YVR media relations officer Alana Lawrence said to overcome security concerns relating to commercial flights transmission of flight data was delayed by 10 minutes, by which time the flight was well clear of the area or had landed.
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