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FAA to Track Helicopter Noise

The Federal Aviation Administration launched on Wednesday a new system for logging complaints about helicopter noise in Los Angeles County. Setting up a complaint system was among the measures included in a May 2013 report by the FAA outlining steps the agency could take to address helicopter noise. County residents can make a complaint by calling 424-348-HELI (4354) or visiting www.heli-noise-la.com and inputting the date and time of the disturbance and their ZIP code. An interactive map can also be used to specifically locate the helicopter that caused the disturbance based on location. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, called the complaint system the “first concrete result” of collaboration between the FAA, homeowners and helicopter operators to address noise issues. “Much more progress needs to be made and it is my hope that this noise complaint system — along with the data it collects — will provide us the necessary information to better identify the bad actors and bring about noise relief to all Los Angeles residents,” Schiff said in a prepared statement. The issue of helicopter noise has been one that Schiff and other federal lawmakers have been trying to tackle for more nearly four years as complaints by residents have stacked up from the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood Hills, and from audience members at the Hollywood Bowl. In January last year, Schiff and Sen. Dianne Feinstein added to an FAA spending bill a provision requiring the FAA to take more action over a 12-month period to reduce helicopter noise in Los Angeles County. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony R. Foxx has not yet made a determination if the FAA has done enough voluntarily to address the noise issue during that time. In 2013, Schiff and other Valley area legislators re-introduced the Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act to force the FAA the set regulations on helicopter operations but it failed for a second time in Congress.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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