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DeliciousSuffolk Legislator Edward P. Romaine plans to call for Suffolk County to set a minimum altitude at which helicopters could fly over Suffolk.
Mr. Romaine is sponsoring a bill that calls for the step in response to widespread complaints over the last several years from Suffolk residents angered by the window-rattling noise of helicopters. His bill describes an agreement reached last winter by Senator Charles Schumer, Representative Tim Bishop and helicopter operators “to alleviate the public nuisance” of chopper noise a failure.
Generating the complaints has been helicopter traffic in and out of East Hampton Airport, the Southampton Village helipad, and the Suffolk County-owned Francis Gabreski Airport in Westhampton not only as it nears or departs from those points but as it traverses other areas across Suffolk.
A spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said that the federal government, through the Federal Aviation Administration, regulates helicopters and Suffolk County has no authority to override the FAA. Its rules governing helicopter operations are lenient, with no restrictions on low-altitude flying unless people or property are harmed.
Over the winter, Senator Schumer and Representative Bishop met with helicopter operators and got their agreement to fly at 2,500 feet and stay over the Atlantic Ocean or Long Island Sound as long as possible on trips between New York City and Long Island.
There is an entirely separate and voluntary procedure for helicopters approaching and departing East Hampton Airport. Pilots are asked to remain above 2,000 feet as long as possible and to approach the airport along the power lines from the west or up Northwest Creek or Georgica Pond. Those that ignore the request are tracked and get letters from the airport manager’s office.
The bill that Mr. Romaine plans to introduce Tuesday, August 5 at a meeting of the legislature declares that “low-flying helicopters have become a public nuisance in Suffolk County” and the “recent agreement between public officials and helicopters has failed to alleviate the public nuisance.”
“The purpose of this law is to establish a minimum altitude for the operation of helicopters passing through the air boundaries of Suffolk County,” it states, “and to preserve and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of Suffolk County without prohibiting the safe passage of helicopters.”
Under Mr. Romaine’s bill, it would be “unlawful to operate, or for the owner to permit the operation, of any type of helicopter over the legal limits of the County of Suffolk ... below an altitude of 1,500 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet from the helicopter except when necessary for a take-off or landing or as weather conditions may dictate.”
Penalties would be a fine of up to $1,000 “and/or one year in prison per offense.”
Exempt from the law would be “helicopters used exclusively in the government service of the United States of America, the State of New York, or any municipal corporation of the state”—which would cover police helicopters—and also “helicopters being used exclusively for agricultural operations.”
In an interview, Mr. Romaine, whose district covers the North Fork and Shelter Island and a part of Brookhaven Town, said he “went to all those meetings with Schumer and Bishop” and was told, ‘We got it, buddy. It’s going to be taken care of with the informal plan.’”
But the racket of helicopter noise continues, he said. “The voluntary plan is not working,” he said.
As for the federal government pre-empting a county in setting minimum altitude for helicopters, “We’re not pre-empted. The FAA does not regulate helicopters.”
“The problem has to be solved,” said Mr. Romaine Thursday, adding he expects his resolution to “get peoples’ attention” and that “the FAA should step in and require helicopter operators to file flight plans and adhere to minimum altitude requirements.”
Chris Dancy, media relations director of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said Monday that “the federal government does regulate helicopters.” Choppers are referred to as “rotary wing aircraft” in FAA regulations, he said. “The FAA is responsible for anything that takes place above the ground and Congress has pre-empted local jurisdiction and designated the FAA as the agency responsible for aviation activity,” said Mr. Dancy.
Gene Polito of Noyac in Southampton Town, who has been crusading against the helicopter noise, agreed that the deal that was worked out by Senator Schumer and Representative Bishop with the helicopter operators has not worked out. “Yesterday, I counted 68 flights over my house including helicopters flying as low as 900 feet,” he said Sunday. A minimum altitude of 1,500 feet, as proposed by Mr. Romaine, is “totally useless—it doesn’t do a thing. It would be no better than 900 feet.”
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As I said, I fly in and out of HTO quite regularly and have been doing so for the last 12 years (BTW, The HTO helicopter traffic has remained constant for at least the past 6 years for those of you who "just noticed it"), and on the very rare (maybe once every two months or so) that I do hear or see another pilot flying off the route or below the altitude, I'll ask them politely to comply with the published routes. More often than not, they're new pilots who are not from the area, and simply do not know about the routes. As I said tho, those are the exceptions, certainly not the rules.
If things are really as bad as some of you claim, then video tape the offenders or at least take their tail number and a photo. Go to www.justhelicopters.com and post the tail number and the photo on the forum, and I guarantee you someone will talk to the pilot and school him on the proper routes and altitudes.
Another fact: Local politicians will never persuede the FAA to impose altitude restrictions based solely on noise complaints. That's like banning sirens on Police cars or Fire trucks. It won't happen. Many have tried in the past. A helicopter (or even 50) interrupting your afternoon tea party is not grounds for additional regulation. Unless there is a clear and present hazard to aviation safety, the FAA will not budge. If you don't believe me, by all means, keep trying.
I too live very close to a busy GA airport (Much busier than HTO), and I know first hand how noisy some aircraft can be (Not just helicopters). Yes, I even occasionally have to ask people to hold on the phone til a plane/helo passes by. It is a minor inconvenience to be sure, but no more so than a train rumbling by or a ambulance siren. I darn sure don't sit around and count them or otherwise let it ruin my entire existance. I realize that the people in that aircraft have as much right to be where they are as I have to be where I am. I don't have the right to silence in my home, nobody does. If I don't like the noise, I can move to a quieter area any time I choose. It doesn't bother me that much though, certainly not enough to run crying to some politician about it.
I personally think it's just some people's way of trying to "get back at 'the man'" because they themselves cannot afford to ride in the back of an $8,000,000.00 helicopter and they're jealous of those who can, but what do I know?
The thing is we avoid as much as possible ... more and try to keep the noise down. Sometimes blade slap can't be helped and it'll pop. Tail rotors are just noisy.
The local, State, and Federal Governments may say they can stop the flights, but they have no authority. Basically, live with the noise, along with highway noise, TV noise, lawnmower noise, radio noise, traffic, kids, leafblowers, vacuum cleaners, fans, air conditioners...
Funny you mention the AW139. We have 3 on order.
Safe flights.
Let's start with all the whiners who are currently trying to sell their homes. They are required by law to disclose if they live in a noisy area, so let's make sure any potential home buyers are aware of all of this terrible noise. After ... more all, we wouldn't want some poor unsuspecting soul moving into such a terrbile environment, would we?
The sad and unfortunate result of "getting the word out" is that the property values of all those whoners' homes would go straight to hell, but again, we can't have anyone else suffering as much as our friendly neighborhood whiners have.
You pansies sound like you live on an aircraft carrier, not in some snooty LI neighborhood. I love it that a bunch of whiney ground pounders are telling me how to fly my aircraft. I love it that someone with zero aviation experience is telling me what is or is not safe.
Until such time ... more as it is made illegal to fly over your homes, I will continue to do so. I will do so at the highest practical altitude possible because I am a professional, but when it is not practical or safe to fly high, I will fly as low as necessary to assure the safety of my crew and passengers. If that disturbs your conversations, I don't really care. I am more concerned for my own safety than I am for your "quality of life".
The long and the short of it is this: We are here to stay. Your pathetic little politicians will not get the FAA to change the rules, because we are not violating any rules. If you don't like the "constant" (a bit dramatic, no?) noise, then FRIGGIN MOVE ALREADY!
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