The Los Angeles Area Helicopter Noise Coalition (LAAHNC) is filing petitions with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish mandatory regulations for helicopter flights in Los Angeles County.
According to LAAHNC, this action follows years of talks with helicopter operators that failed to result in any agreement on voluntary flight practices to reduce noise.
There are no specific minimum altitude requirements for helicopter flights and LAAHNC said helicopter noise caused by low flights in the County is a problem. Helicopters often fly as low as 300 feet above people and homes.
"Despite the fact that most residents are unaware it exists and most helicopters don't show up on its flight tracking system, the initial launch of the FAA's new Heli-Noise-LA complaint system still logged a complaint on average every seven minutes, with more than 34,000 complaints in the past six months," said Wayne Williams, LAAHNC Board member.
In January, 2014, federal legislation was enacted that directed the FAA to continue to collaborate with the community and helicopter operators, but also take several steps, including to evaluate and adjust existing helicopter routes above Los Angeles, analyze whether helicopters could safely fly at higher altitudes in certain areas and develop/promote best practices for helicopter hovering and electronic news gathering.
The legislation also stated that unless "significant progress" was made by the end of 2014, the FAA "shall begin a regulatory process related to the impact of helicopter use on the quality of life and safety of the people of Los Angeles County."
LAAHNC representatives said they have participated in 57 collaborative meetings and proposed more than 30 voluntary practices but no significant agreement has been reached.
LAAHNC's proposed regulations would establish a general minimum altitude for helicopter flights; limitations on hovering by news and tour helicopters; require a system of pooling for helicopter news coverage; and establish offshore routes for helicopters that fly along the coastline. Copies of the petitions and related documents are available at LAHelicopterNoise.org/regulation.
"The problem of helicopter noise in Los Angeles County has festered for too many years," according to Bob Anderson, LAAHNC President. "At this point, although we are certainly willing to continue the talks on voluntary measures, we can no longer continue to rely on that approach alone. We hope the FAA will seriously consider our requests, evaluate them for safety and noise reduction, and establish regulations needed to adequately address this continuing problem."
- Submitted by Richard Root, Los Angeles Area Helicopter Noise Coalition
