Silent jet could reduce airport noise

A team of 40 researchers from Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spent three years working on the wide, streamlined jet, which they plan to unveil in London on Monday.

The "silent jet," which from outside an airport would sound about as noisy as a washing machine or other household appliance, would carry 215 passengers and could be in the air by 2030.

"Noise really is one of the major barriers to airport expansion and the expansion of flights," said Edward Greitzer, an MIT professor who helped run the project. "It gets a lot of complaints."