Hello Gus,

The published & preferred "approach" and "departure" routes over the inner harbor enter and exit respectively through the eastern gap. At least, that is the intention of Noise Abatement procedures in use at the Island Airport. Of course, not all pilots comply with these requirements and unfortunately the reasons are as numerous as the transgressions.

With respect to an "approach" path flown OVER Ward's Island to the Island Airport, under good weather conditions pilots will fly what is termed a "visual" approach. In this case, the pilot has the runway in sight and will proceed by visual means to the airport for landing. No one "designates" the path of a visual approach as it is flown at the pilots discretion (speed, altitude, route etc).

The fact that an aircraft is landing means that it's flight path is an approach. Approaches are not governed by minimum altitudes like an overflight (overflight eg:= flying from Oshawa to Hamilton) would be because the pilot is maneuvering the aircraft to land.
For example, a requirement to stay 1000ft above a built up area on an approach would mean that pilots might never get low enough to safely complete the approach and land on the runway because they were too high to land.
In other words, the restriction could delay the pilots ability to descend the aircraft to an appropriate altitude for a safe landing.

The fact that a pilot overflies homes on their approach is not a dangerous occurrence in and of itself. It is noisy and most likely unnecessary but under normal circumstances does not pose a threat to the properties below. By the time an aircraft landing at the Island is near Ward's Island, they would be required to have the runway in sight. If they can see the runway, it stands to reason that they can see everything between them and the runway. Therefore, if the pilot can see the runway and all obstacles between them and their landing, the chances of a collision are not impossible but highly improbable. Of course, as Mr. Lipton points out, we would all prefer the flight path to be away from residential pockets in the event of a pilot error or mechanical problems and the published procedures are written with this intention.

Hope this helps.

Joe