Ever wonder what the helicopters circling overhead are doing or just want to some peace and quiet? Thanks to the Federal Aviation Administration Los Angeles County residents can now track local helicopters flights. Using the “Automated Complaint System” (ACS) residents can also file complaints about noisy low aircraft.
“Helicopter noise has disrupted the daily lives of thousands of Los Angeles residents for years, and allowing the public to report incidents to the FAA is a welcome and necessary step toward solving this problem,” U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told the Los Angeles Times.
The effort is the work of Los Angeles Helicopter Noise Initiative, a coalition of local community organizations, helicopter operators and other stakeholders that has been working since 2012 to develop voluntary agreements on routes and altitudes, best practices, outreach and training to address the helicopter noise situation in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles Times reported the initiative was the prompted by federal legislation passed in January 2014 that required the FAA to develop flight regulations to reduce helicopter noise in Los Angeles County unless voluntary measures are effective. The legislation was sponsored Senator Diane Feinstein and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank).
The centralized complaint system was developed by the leading provider of airport noise monitoring systems in the region to provide helicopter complaint data correlated with flight tracks. The data will be collected by the FAA and used to determine how to reduce noise in the future.
From what we can tell, LAPD Air Support helicopters are not included on the live tracking system. For information on those copters, call LAPD Air Support at 213-485-2600. Sometimes they will give you information, other times they will not.
So next time you are wondering why helicopters are overhead, visit http://heli-noise-la.com/
I guess I’m just a big city girl after all. I can still hear the birds and always felt helicopter sounds were part of the city sounds. I’ve lived in LA for over 35 years and never once felt the need to complain.
Is there something Senator Feinstein could focus her attention on – like balancing a budget?