West Departure — No Left Turn Before the Ocean KTOA local VFR procedures
Not for navigation. Verify against the official sources linked below before flight.
vfr departure Regulatory / ordinance — MANDATORY verified 2026-08-28 (42 d ago)
Compliance is required by law — federal regulation or a local ordinance with enforcement authority.
Ordinance: departing to the west, no left turn until reaching the ocean or 1,500 ft.
The route
- Aircraft taking off to the west shall not turn left until they have either reached the ocean or attained an altitude of 1,500 feet
- The guide adds: unless directed by ATCT personnel or for safety concerns in flight, to avoid noise sensitive areas
When it applies
- Departing 29L or 29R — west flow The ordinance says "aircraft taking off to the west" without naming a runway; 29L and 29R are the west-facing ends. The guide's own heading reads "South Runway (29L or 29R)", which does not correspond to a single physical runway and is quoted as printed
Source text, verbatim
[Torrance Municipal Code 51.2.3 TAKE OFFS AND LANDINGS, subsection (e):] e) Aircraft taking off to the west shall not turn left until they have either reached the ocean or attained an altitude of fifteen hundred (1,500) feet. [Noise Abatement Guide, under heading "South Runway (29L or 29R)":] When taking off to the west, no left turn is allowed prior to the ocean or 1,500' altitude, unless directed by ATCT personnel or for safety concerns in flight, to avoid noise sensitive areas.
The text above is the published source wording and is authoritative over any summary on this page.
Sources
- Torrance Municipal Code 51.2.3(e) — Take Offs and Landings City of Torrance · retrieved 2026-08-28
- Torrance Municipal Airport — Noise Abatement Guide (Revised 02/20/2024). City-branded but retrieved from a SCAUWG mirror; torranceca.gov refuses automated access, so this copy could not be verified against the City's own server City of Torrance Community Development Department, Noise Abatement Office · retrieved 2026-08-28