A wannabe Red Baron pulling aerial stunts in a biplane over houses is just one example of recent nuisance flying in Pitt Meadows, say locals.

Since it opened in 1963, the small Pitt Meadows Regional Airport has been used by pilots of private planes, flight school students, helicopter pilots and even commuters.

But nearby residents, such as former city councillor Ken Joyner, say low-flying, noisy aircraft are aggravating residents.

They come in at all hours of the day, he says. Some of them fly too low and look like they're just clearing the tops of nearby trees. Larger aircraft shake the windows. And, he says, local people feel disrespected.

"I think there should be some responsibility of the airport and the airport personnel to think about the quality of life of the people living here now," Joyner said. "That, I think, is being thrown out the window."

The mayor, as well as the airport's new manager, say that some pilots taking off from the airport need to straighten up and fly correctly in order to better respect the community.

Risky biplane flight

According to a Transport Canada report, one incident involved an old biplane buzzing over homes while blaring its engines and performing a steep bank while only 30 to 60 metres in the air.

The plane cut a tight 180-degree turn toward the airport, which caused a resident to email a complaint to the airport, raising concerns that the speed and altitude of the manoeuvre could have caused the plane to stall out and crash.

Beechcraft Model 17

A Beechcraft Model 17 biplane, similar to the model involved in a July incident written up by Transport Canada. (Sergey Kohl)

"It completely frightened the seniors living here, the farm animals, our neighbourhood dogs and all of us," the complainant wrote. "This pilot needs to be grounded... It was unbelievable."

Mayor John Becker agrees the incident is unacceptable.

On Tuesday, city council called on the airport to reprimand the pilot involved. Becker said Wednesday that this has been done.

Mayor says incidents unacceptable

Becker says sometimes there are aircraft that stray from assigned flight lanes and fly too low over homes.

And he says when people move to the area, they need to expect a certain level of airport noise and activity.

"But incidents like these go beyond what our residents can really be expected to tolerate and they need to be stopped," he stated.

Around the time the airport opened, Pitt Meadows had fewer than 2,300 people. Today, the population is approaching 19,000 and the area to the airport's north and west has become increasingly developed.

He says the bothersome barnstormers aren't causing issues of safety, however, as much as they are simply not being good neighbours to the growing residential population.

'Poor airmanship'

George Miller, the airport's acting general manager, says communication could solve many of the issues.

He was not manager at the time of the July biplane incident but agreed it "was a very justified complaint and the immediate followup and fallout was handled inadequately."

"It was just a case of poor airmanship. He flew low and over a built-up area," he said. "It's just not a very wise thing to do."

MIller, the former manager of Langley Regional Airport and Canadian Forces veteran, says he wants the airport in Pitt Meadows to be a better neighbour.

That means listening to residents and updating documents for pilots that spell out where and how to fly in Pitt Meadows.