What You Should Know - TriCities Overflights

THE KEY POINT

NavCanada's own noise footprints are misleading and outdated.

When NavCanada published its public consultation diagrams, they only showed noise contours above 55 dB(A). That threshold is based on severely outdated standards. The World Health Organization's 2018 Environmental Noise Guidelines set 45 dB(A) as the maximum acceptable nighttime aircraft noise, above which there are documented health risks.

In other words: every area that would be inside a 45 dB(A) or 50 dB(A) contour — contours NavCanada simply did not publish — is silently affected by the new flight paths. The real impact is far worse than their diagrams suggest.

5 dB(A)

A 5 dB(A) increase is not small — it is a doubling of perceived noise. The step from 45 dB(A) to 55 dB(A) (NavCanada's cut-off) is a fourfold increase in perceived loudness.

The diagram NavCanada did not want you to ask about. Their published contours begin at 55 dB(A) (blue). The 45 dB(A) and 50 dB(A) contours — the health-relevant thresholds defined by the World Health Organization — were never drawn. The real noise footprint extends far beyond the coloured zone shown here.

Do the math yourself: where the missing contours are

Aircraft noise from a flight corridor decays at approximately 3 dB per doubling of distance from the path centerline — the standard line-source approximation used in acoustic modelling. Working outward from NavCanada's published 55 dB(A) boundary:

~3×

The 50 dB(A) contour sits roughly three times farther from the flight path than the 55 dB(A) line NavCanada chose to show.

~5–10×

The 45 dB(A) contour — WHO's actual nighttime-health threshold — extends five to ten times farther, depending on altitude, aircraft mix, terrain, and atmospheric conditions.

The exact contour would require running NavCanada's own acoustic model (the FAA's AEDT, or its equivalent). But the direction of the error is always the same: NavCanada's published diagram understates the affected zone — never overstates it.

Honest caveat: WHO's 45 dB(A) threshold is a long-term nighttime average (L_night). NavCanada's contours may use different metrics (L_den, L_max, SEL). The comparison is not one-to-one — but the core point holds: the contours that matter most for sleep and long-term health were simply not drawn.

Source: WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines (2018) Source: ISO 9613-2 (Outdoor sound propagation) Source: FAA AEDT Acoustic Model NavCanada's Original Package

World Health Organization Recommendations

WHO Guideline

45 dB

Maximum recommended aircraft noise exposure for good health

NavCanada's Current Levels

55-70 dB

Current average with peaks significantly higher

NavCanada implemented noise levels 22-55% HIGHER than WHO guidelines recommend for good health.

Official NavCanada Information

For NavCanada's official information package on the Vancouver airspace modernization:

View NavCanada's Official Package

How Loud Will It Actually Be?

Real noise data from the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) shows the peak noise level (Lmax) produced by different aircraft types at various altitudes. These are the kinds of planes that fly into YVR every day.

Aircraft Type	Examples	2,000-3,000 ft	3,000-4,000 ft
Single-aisle jet 125-180 seats	Boeing 737, Airbus A320	64-69 dB	61-64 dB
Twin-aisle jet 250 seats	Boeing 777, 787, Airbus A330	68-74 dB	64-68 dB
Large twin-aisle 300-350 seats	Boeing 777-300, Airbus A340	67-73 dB	63-67 dB
4-engine widebody 400+ seats	Boeing 747, Airbus A380	71-78 dB	67-72 dB

For context: Normal conversation is about 60 dB. A vacuum cleaner is about 70 dB. The WHO recommends aircraft noise stay below 45 dB for health. Every 10 dB increase sounds roughly twice as loud to the human ear.

Source: NATS Representative Aircraft Lmax Data

Watch: The Quietest Year

A Documentary About What Aircraft Noise Does to Communities Like Ours

This film shows exactly what happens when flights start routing over quiet neighbourhoods. Sleep destruction. Children falling behind in school. Heart disease. It's not hypothetical -- it's documented.

Watch The Quietest Year Official Site

Hear It for Yourself

NATS Noise Measurement

Audio clips of aircraft of different types at different heights, with background sounds for context. From the UK's air traffic control authority.

Measure It Yourself (iOS)

NIOSH Sound Level Meter app. Point your phone at the sky next time a plane passes and see the decibels for yourself.

Measure It Yourself (Android)

NIOSH Sound Level Meter for Android. Free, accurate, and developed by the US government.

Flight Path Maps & Noise Contours

These maps show the current flight paths and noise impact zones over our communities.

NavCanada noise footprint map for Anmore, Belcarra, and Tri-Cities showing change areas and dB noise contours

Official NavCanada consultation board showing the Anmore/Belcarra/Tri-Cities region. The noise footprint legend shows contours from 55 dB(A) through 75 dB(A). Red cross-hatching indicates areas where aircraft will operate less regularly; vertical lines indicate more regular aircraft operations.

Close-up of arrival routes and noise footprint over Tri-Cities

Current arrival routes and the noise footprint of a single arriving aircraft. The dark blue/purple areas show the most intense noise impact, with white lines indicating the approach paths including curved paths to the final approach.

Before and after comparison of flight routes for both runway configurations

Before and after comparison showing previous and current arrival routes for both runway configurations. Left panels show previous traffic patterns; right panels show current routes now active. The routes previously shown in blue are now being flown according to the new routes shown in white.

Every statistic on this page, cited

NavCanada starts contours at 55 dB(A) only: NavCanada Vancouver Airspace Modernization public consultation materials, 2022. NavCanada VAMP page
WHO 45 dB(A) nighttime maximum for health: WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (2018). Read guidelines
5 dB(A) = doubling of perceived noise: Human auditory perception — a 10 dB increase sounds roughly twice as loud; the relationship is logarithmic. See WHO guidelines above and acoustical references at NIDCD / NIH.
Aircraft Lmax noise levels (64-78 dB(A)) by aircraft type: UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS) Representative Aircraft Lmax Data. NATS Lmax data
WHO night noise recommendations (< 30 dB in bedrooms): WHO Night Noise Guidelines for Europe. Read guidelines (PDF)
903,000 DALYs lost annually / 900,000 hypertension cases in Europe: WHO Regional Office for Europe (2011), "Burden of disease from environmental noise." Read report
The Quietest Year documentary: Official site. thequietestyear.com

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