Complaints of Helicopter Noise Whip Up Action

Encino residents have long been used to helicopters buzzing overhead, but that doesn't make the sight and sound of them any less annoying to some.

Members of the public who wish to lodge noise complaints can do so by logging on to the website for Van Nuys Airport, where many helicopters begin and end their flights. From the site, users can find WebTrak, which tracks flight activity in and out of the airport. The map gives the tail numbers and altitudes of the aircraft, including helicopters, in real time. Users can simply log this information, along with the time and location of the noise, and the complaint will be forwarded to the airport.

The president of the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association, Larry Welk, said his organization started a community outreach initiative in February to respond to complaints. Welk said he attended the last Van Nuys Citizens Advisory Committee to respond to complaints, and will be talking in the coming months with members of homeowners associations in the Valley in hopes of establishing an open dialogue.

The Federal Aviation Administration prefers not to move routes, as shifting them just moves noise from one area to another, rather than fixing the problem, according to officials.

Allen Kenitzer of the FAA sent Patch a letter dated March 2011 from the manager of the Los Angeles Airport district office, Brian Armstrong, to the environmental affairs officer at Los Angeles World Airports, Scott Tatro, outlining the FAA's current stance on helicopter routes.

"To date, no additional information has been provided to the FAA supporting the assertion that the proposed shift in helicopter traffic would result in a reduction of people affected by noise..." Armstrong wrote in the letter.

Armstrong also mentions the possibility of Van Nuys Airport carrying out a test to shift the main helicopter route from Bull Creek to Balboa Boulevard. But, he wrote, the airport could only do this if it could prove ahead of time that noise levels would be reduced.

"Before initiating a 45-day test period, LAWA [Los Angeles World Airports] will need to provide supporting documentation that the relocation of helicopter traffic from Bull Creek to Balboa Boulevard will show a noise reduction benefit to the community and that no new incompatible areas will be created."

Gerald Silver, the president of the Homeowners Association of Encino, said that he has received a number of complaints from homeowners over the years.

“Basically, helicopters have been a nuisance for many decades,” said Silver. “About 20 years ago, a special meeting was held by the airport. It involved the helicopter pilots, the FAA and the airport. They informally met without any public notice. There were no homeowner [representatives] on the panel. And they basically structured eight helicopter routes. Only the FAA can establish permanent routes.”

Silver added that the Homeowners Association only had an issue with commercial and media helicopters.

“Emergency helicopters—police, fire, medical or military—are all exempt from the airport curfew and noise law. Encino Homeowners has no objection to that," he said.

During the weekend of "Carmageddon" in July, many Valley residents complained that noisy helicopters, mainly from television news outlets, were hovering over their homes all day.

That month, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation on Capitol Hill that would force the FAA to restrict helicopter flight paths in Los Angeles County and set minimum altitudes, within 12 months.

“Residents deserve relief from the thunderous clacking of helicopter blades hovering directly over their homes, and instead all they’ve been getting is the runaround from government agencies,” Berman, who represents a large portion of the Valley, said in a press release. “The buck stops here because it is simply unacceptable for residents to be forced to contend with these brazen helicopter operators on their own. This bill requires the regulations that will give residents the relief and increased safety they are so desperately looking for.”

"There's nothing malicious about it," Welk told Encino Patch. "There's no helicopter pilot up there twisting his mustache thinking, 'Ha ha, I'm going to get the residents now.' "