Local Officials Cite Two Accidents Within One Month

Bruce Pelly thinks Palm Beach Helicopter is a danger to people who live near the Lantana (FL) airport and he's said so in a letter to the FAA. Pelly, the Director of Airports in Palm Beach County, wants the school moved to a less populated area.

Tuesday, a Palm Beach Helicopter aircraft went down near Boynton Beach (FL). It was the second accident involving a school aircraft in 30 days. That, said Pelly in his letter, proves how dangerous it is to train rotor pilots over his county.

"The helicopter activity around Lantana airport is a safety concern," he wrote. "Once again, the department requests assistance to locate helicopter-training activity away from populated areas." The letter was obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Other local officials and airport neighbors -- especially those in nearby Atlantis (FL) -- have long complained about the noise from student flights into and out of Lantana.

"The residents have been right," said county Commissioner Warren Newell, who lives near the helicopter school. "We've had two accidents," he told the Sun-Sentinel.

Palm Beach Helicopter owner Randy Rowles (right) was upset at word of Pelly's letter. He pointed out to the Sun-Sentinel that fixed-wing aircraft, not helicopters, had gone down, causing fatalities. He specifically mentioned the crash of a Piper Geronimo in January that left two people dead when the aircraft went down in the driveway of a home in Lake Osborne Estates.

"In one breath, they're telling me they're helping me and attempting to give us assistance, and in the next breath they're saying my operation is dangerous," he told the paper. "The county is doing everything to shut me down... and I don't appreciate it."

Rowles said he's done everything he can to accommodate county officials. He said he's even looked for an alternate site for the helicopter training facility. But in fast-growing South Florida, finding that kind of space isn't easy.

"We've looked at a number of locations west of existing communities," aviation department spokeswoman Lisa De La Rionda told the Sun-Sentinel. "We're very willing to do what we need to do to get the helipad there, but it's the piece of property that we have not been able to secure."

The county really has no control over the activities of Rowle's school. In May, Pelly asked the FAA, if the county established a training area, could it require Palm Beach Helicopters to use it? The answer was "no."

"Helicopter training ... cannot be arbitrarily restricted based on noise at a federally obligated airport, such as LNA," wrote FAA District Program Manager Miguel Martinez in response to Pelly's question.

But after Tuesday's accident, Pelly said the problem was no longer confined to noise.

"The issue of repetitive operations is not a noise or access issue, but an in-flight safety issue," Pelly wrote in the letter acquired by the Sun-Sentinel. "For this reason, the Department goes on record declaring that continued repetitive helicopter flight operations over the communities surrounding the Lantana airport pose a safety concern."

FMI: www.palmbeachhelicopters.com, www.lantanaairport.com