Early Turn Notifications Monthly Report

The Early Turn Notification Program now has a new monthly report entitled “Aircraft Early Turn Monthly Report” with graphical representation of not only current, but also historical data to show changes or trends over time.  This report, along with the prior Aircraft Operator Early Turn Summary Report, is available using the links at the bottom of this page.

An "early turn" occurs when an aircraft on a westerly departure from any of the four LAX runways initiates a turn prior to reaching the shoreline that results in the aircraft flying over communities to either the north or south of the airport. To identify early turns, three virtual gates (Playa Del Rey to the north, El Segundo and Hyperion to the south) are used to monitor flight tracks.  Any flight tracks that penetrate these gates are considered early turns. 

To minimize noise in residential communities along the north and south airport boundaries, pilots of all aircraft departing toward the west (over the ocean) shall fly straight until they are past the shoreline before beginning any turns, unless specifically instructed otherwise by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Control (LAWA Noise Abatement Policies and Programs). The FAA has the authority to instruct pilots to turn early to ensure the safe operation of the aircraft.

LAWA regularly monitors all early turns and, for those turning over communities, LAWA uses recordings of communications between pilots and air traffic controllers to determine the reason for the early turn. LAWA issues notification letters, with supporting graphics, to each aircraft operator that deviated from this procedure.  This letter requests they investigate those early turns not initiated by the FAA and respond to LAWA with an explanation of why the incident occurred and what efforts will be made to improve compliance with this policy. LAWA also communicates regularly with the FAA to ensure they are working to minimize the need to instruct pilots to turn before the shoreline for safety reasons.

To view FAA aircraft radar flight track data, including early turn departures, during the last 90 days, please visit the LAX Internet Flight Tracking System.

Each month LAWA generates reports (see below) of aircraft operations that resulted in early turns to the north and south of the airport. Both the Aircraft Early Turn Monthly Report and the Aircraft Operator Early Turn Summary Report indicate which early turns (El Segundo or Playa del Rey Gates) were pilot-initiated, FAA-initiated, or were caused by wind drift.