Wed, Aug 08, 2012
Residents Stridently Express Concerns About Noise, Safety
About 150 people turned out Monday night for a meeting held by FAA representatives in Sherman Oaks, CA, to let the agency know their views about helicopter operations in the area. The people attending the meeting came from all over the greater Los Angeles area, and the majority were upset about what they perceive as low-flying helos.
Among them were a few representatives of news organizations and others who use helicopters in their daily businesses. The San Fernando Valley Business Journal reports that one reporter/pilot with 35 years in the business ... Chuck Street from KTLA and KIIS-FM ... said to the best of his knowledge, any time a news helicopter has been asked to increase its altitude because of a noise complaint, it has never been ignored. "I've never heard one media pilot refuse to do that, ever," he said at the meeting.
Many of the complaints stemmed from news coverage of the closure of a major freeway in the LA area. Many residents complained that voluntary noise abatement procedures were not followed by at least some of the pilots. One board member of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association said "we need enforceable, legal restrictions right now."
The FAA was represented by FAA regional administrator Bill Withycombe and Elizabeth Ray, vice president in mission support services from the agency’s Washington D.C. office. It was held at the request of Congressman Howard Berman, who has introduced legislation to create guidelines for helicopter operations co-sponsored by Congressmen Brad Sherman and Adam Schiff, all Democrats which represent districts in the Los Angeles area.
More News
The Industry Continues to be Rocked By Some Questionable Operations Recent investigations and a great deal of data has resulted in ANN’s SportPlane Resource Guide’s rep>[...]
Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]
Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) An airport lighting facility providing vertical visual approach slope guidance to aircraft during approach to landing by radiating a directio>[...]
Airport Marking Aids Markings used on runway and taxiway surfaces to identify a specific runway, a runway threshold, a centerline, a hold line, etc. A runway should be marked in ac>[...]
Aero Linx: The Skyhawk Association The Skyhawk Association is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhaw>[...]