FAA Calls for Voluntary Measures to Reduce Helicopter Noise

This article was reported and written by City News Service.

The day it announced it is opposed to cracking down on helicopter operations, the FAA also announced a test to reduce chopper noise at an airport that is at the vortex of noise complaints.

The Daily Breeze reported that two modified helicopter flight patterns will be tested for six months at Torrance Municipal Airport, home to a helicopter factory and sales facility that frequently triggers noise complaints.

The FAA released a report on helicopter noise Friday, which stated it is opposed to new rules that would throttle back chopper flights over areas that experience frequent overflights. The FAA said it supports voluntary efforts.

The Torrance flight plan change is one such voluntary effort, the Daily Breeze newspaper reported. Pilots will be asked to follow one of two recommended paths, and a committee of affected Torrance-area homeowners will evaluate the effort.

Torrance Municipal—which is east of Redondo Beach—is home to the Robinson helicopter factory, one of the nation's largest manufacturer of such aircraft. Its R-44 model is one of the smallest helicopters made, and its piston engines are perceived as significantly louder than the turbine engines used by police, news media, fire departments, and most charter firms.

Multiple South Bay residents testified at a hearing in June 2012 about helicopter noise in the area.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a Burbank congressman, has expressed doubts that voluntary self-regulation can work. He has cosponsored a proposed bill that would more-tightly regulate helicopter operation in the area.

"Voluntary measures in the past have provided little relief for residents, and I am skeptical that, without a determined effort to oversee them by the FAA, that they will do so now," he told The Times.

The Redondo Beach City Council voted in 2012 to support a previous version of the federal legislation.

In Friday's report, the FAA said it will explore increasing the altitude "floor" that choppers must stay above, and relocating helicopter flight paths. The FAA said it will also examine why some choppers still hover at relatively low altitudes.

Although law enforcement helicopters orbit crime scenes at very low altitudes, the FAA report noted that TV helicopters have better camera lenses that allow them to stay higher. TV stations have also successfully worked out "pool" agreements to avoid annoying people with multiple choppers over a news story, the FAA said.

Related stories:

• State Senate Passes Helicopter Noise Resolution
• Lieu Supports Helicopter Noise Reduction Bill
• Helicopter Noise Relief Bill Introduced
• Blog: Need for Helicopter Noise Relief
• Blog: Redondo Supports Helicopter Noise Relief Act
• Blog: Dealing With Helicopter Noise