The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to give noise-reduction training to air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport after complaints of increased noise from McLean residents.

After studying data from noise-monitoring stations and aircraft traffic patterns, two retired Air Force pilots confirmed that noise levels had increased on the Virginia side of the Potomac River because pilots were taking shortcuts away from the river and over homes.

Procedures to reduce noise over neighborhoods call for planes approaching and departing the airport to fly along the middle of the Potomac.

The flight path is not mandatory for safety reasons, said Paul Wieland, one of the study's authors. Pilots can divert in cases of bad weather or traffic. But the number of deviations during studied low-traffic periods suggest pilots are requesting course changes for convenience, Wieland said.

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Air traffic controllers at Potomac TRACON received refresher training in flight paths that reduce noise, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey assured U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf in a letter released this week. Wolf, a Republican who represents Fairfax County, assisted a citizens' association in getting the training.

All National airport traffic controllers will receive refresher classes by April 13, Blakey wrote. Similar classes will be repeated on a quarterly basis.

Noise increased at Virginia monitoring stations in Langley Forest and at Great Falls after post-Sept. 11, 2001, safety requirements changed National airport flight paths, Wieland said. Those requirements were dismissed in 2002, and noise at Maryland monitoring stations decreased while levels at the Virginia stations grew, the study said.

mhegstad@dcexaminer.com