Federal lawmakers have been trying to regulate helicopter noise over Los Angeles for a while now, but the FAA issued a bucket of cold water recently in the form of a recommendation that they create a set of voluntary rules for choppers. Because everyone's always very eager to follow non-binding suggestions, right? At a contentious public meeting on the matter last night (lots of yelling Hollywood Hillsians!), a rep for the FAA said "We are convinced that the robust collaborative process between community representatives and helicopter cooperators has the highest likelihood of success," reports KPCC. Meanwhile, another employee "said the agency doesn't really know what helicopter operators are in the air, when or where." So they plan to figure that out with a centralized noise complaint system (none exists right now); residents and helicopter operators both like that idea. Once it's in place and "hotspots" are identified, the FAA could create "path modifications, altitude requirements or no-fly zones applied to certain areas." But again, those would be voluntary.
· FAA tells LA residents more data needed before mandatory restrictions to ease helicopter noise can be considered [SCPR]
· Aerial Traffic Archives [Curbed LA]
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