As a result of the August 2005 victory in the PDK Open Records lawsuit, any individual can now place a request under the Georgia Open Records Act (GORA) to Mr. Mario Evans, the PDK Airport Noise Abatement Officer, for full information about any aircraft noise or flight events that may have disturbed you.

The most effective way to make your GORA request to Mr. Evans is by e-mail to: maevans@co.dekalb.ga.us. Here is a sample request:

Dear Mr. Evans: Under GORA I am requesting a noise report on a low flying and very loud jet over my home [give exact address] on [give date] at [give time]. In your report to me, please include the aircraft type, the noise generated by the aircraft, its altitude and flight track, and the aircraft’s N number. Sincerely, [Your name]

Answers to GORA requests must be provided within three business days, under the law. (If you have any problems getting a full response promptly, please notify: larry.foster@earthlink.net.) After you have received the aircraft’s N number--which is the aircraft equivalent of a car tag--you can easily identify the actual owner of the aircraft by going to: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_inquiry.asp, typing in the aircraft N number, and hitting “Go.”

Once you have identified the owner of the aircraft that disturbed you, you then can contact the person or company directly to express your concerns. Please also send an electronic copy any such follow-up letter you may write to: Mario Evans: maevans@co.dekalb.ga.us, Please also send your letter, individually, to : Commissioner Jeff Rader: jrader@co.dekalb.ga.us, Commissioner Kathie Gannon: kgannon@co.dekalb.ga.us, and (for PDK Watch Inc.’s records), to: larry.foster@earthlink.net.

We believe that using GORA requests provides the most direct and effective way of documenting and letting PDK Airport and informing your elected County representatives--who are supposed to exercise oversight over PDK Airport--about PDK aircraft disruptions you may experience.

Try making a GORA request the next time you have an airport noise or other disturbance. This should be almost as fast--as well as a lot more reliable and well documented--than simply calling the PDK Airport noise hotline: 770-936-5442.

On April 27th, 2007 at 3:10am EDT, your Learjet Model 25, flight id# KFS77 took off from Dekalb Peachtree Airport (PDK) in Atlanta, GA, banked left and headed northeast on a flight to Pittsburg. 

Unfortunately, as you flew over my house (a few miles away from the airport) your plane was so loud that my wife bolted out of bed, ran for the children's room in order to grab them out of their beds to rush them to the basement. She was 100% sure a tornado was about to hit the house. I'm not making this up. It terrified her. If this was the response in my house, what was the response in the hundreds of other houses in the area? (this area, by the way, has a median house value of over $500,000)

Learjet 25s were first produced in 1966. Your jet is extremely old and extremely loud as compared to modern jets. You need to understand that there are real people that live here. We have real wives and real children and we lead real lives. We're not just a bunch of rooftops that you fly over.

I need you to respond personally to this email. I need to know that you will never again allow one of your charter jets to leave PDK between 10pm and 8am. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

______________________________________

[name, address, and phone number removed]