Autumn, sky, grasses, leaves
We Fly High

OCTOBER 20, 2009

Good work this summer

The NYC region's helicopter professionals continued to voluntarily abide by suggested routings and altitudes throughout the summer. Overall, resident complaints were down, with two households on LI generating the vast majority of complaints to our hotline and web forms.

This provides more proof that public officials working with ERHC and FAA directly on voluntary measures is a reliable way to achieve results that are fast, effective, and cost-effective for the public.

APRIL 7, 2009

Big turnout for pre-season meeting

By Robert Grotell

On April 1st, ERHC hosted its 3rd annual Long Island Fly Neighborly Kick-off meeting to obtain critical feedback from operators, the FAA, communities, and local elected officials on the various issues that affect Long Island-related helicopter operations and noise abatement procedures. Over 50 attendees participated in a lively roundtable atmosphere discussing Long Island-focused issues.

Joining ERHC's Chairman Jeff Smith, Board Members, and Special Advisor Robert Grotell, were ERHC members representing the highest volume users at the East End airports, HAI's Harold Summers, FAA airspace and noise abatement specialists, airport mangers from FOK and HTO, the Mayor of the Village of Southhampton, Trustees from the Village of Floral Park, a representative from the Town of North Hempstead, a lone resident from Port Washington. Congressional and Senatorial offices were invited but did not attend.

During the nearly five-hour meeting, Jeff applauded ERHC members for providing significant noise relief to many Long Island communities during the 2008 season through heavy utilization of the North Shore route and excellent compliance with voluntary noise abatement procedures at HTO and FOK. Airport management from HTO and FOK echoed these sentiments as did the representatives from Floral Park, whose vocal concern over the Tracks route back in 2007 helped start this process.

Building upon these documented achievements, ERHC is now urging members to vary route usage between the North and South Shores and even over the middle of the Island at appropriate altitudes in an attempt to better balance potential affects on the communities below and demonstrate ERHC's continued commitment to fair and equitable solutions.

One of the major goals in ERHC's Long Island effort has been to serve Long Island's residents better by staving off federal legislation that promises to add increased regulation, costs and reduced flexibility for our industry to be able to respond to changing local concerns. It is hoped that the elected officials and community members who attended the Kick-off meeting walked away with the knowledge that ERHC members have bent over backwards by routinely flying longer routes and incurring increased operating costs in tough economic times all in the name of noise abatement. Varying the routes is one of the few remaining options and represents ERHC's best and final offer on voluntary noise abatement procedures.

MARCH 24, 2009

Planning ahead for repeat success

With last summer's exceptional voluntary cooperation by helicopter operators as a backdrop, ERHC is once again holding a pre-travel-season workshop of operators and public officials next week to make sure we're all doing all we can to continue doing business while seeking balance with residents who object to the sounds of our machines in the sky.

"We'll be sharing information, comparing notes, and listening, all of which are part of finding balance among competing interests in a megalopolis like the NYC region", says Chairman Jeff Smith. Helicopter flying is a natural use of the national airspace, and the professionals of the NYC area's heliports and the pilots who fly the machines provide the safest transportation in the area.

Smith adds, "this year's economic situation may reduce traffic, it's hard to forecast, but we know there are plenty of professional pilots in the local area who've been laid off". In addition, residents around LaGuardia and Newark airports may see helicopters lower and on different flight paths soon, Smith explains. This is due to changes FAA has implemented to meet technical safety guidelines.

"Local pilots know as well as anyone that it's important to fly as high as weather, safety, and efficiency allow, but in and around the major airports, we have to follow paths and altitude instructions from ATC", says Smith.

ERHC to testify on LI airspace bill

Special Advisor Robert Grotell, seen on channel 12 last week, will be presenting a letter (335kb pdf) and testifying at the Suffolk County legislature's meeting tonight on a bill proposing to regulate flying activities over the county.

ERHC has in the past objected to such bills and will continue, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over the airspace, so the bill would have no real effect.

In addition, ERHC was challenged in late 2007 to show its ability to produce change in flight paths, as a measure of our trustworthiness as a partner with communities. Measurements both by ERHC and other entities showed exceptionally high compliance with voluntary noise abatement procedures and the new north shore route, thus showing dramatically that working with ERHC produces fast, flexible and effective change at no cost to governments or citizens. ERHC is a dependable partner in affecting positive change.

FEBRUARY 16, 2009

Heliports, Air Tours update

ERHC continues proactive efforts to respond to Councilmember Gale Brewer's request to know what actions ERHC is taking to respond to complaints her constituents have made about air tour flights near and over Manhattan.

This week, the Board of Directors reviewed efforts by Chairman Jeff Smith and others in pursuing recommended procedures guidelines with the participation of NYC area tour operators. The authors of the guidelines were at the recent roundtable meeting and have held numerous discussions on all sides of the issue, so are familiar with the many points of view.

ERHC's mission is communication to enhance safety and professionalism, so we walk a fine line in making recommendations to businesses about how they operate. In the past, operators have shown good community spirit in responding to public concerns.

Some tour operators have chosen not to be members of ERHC but we are still working with and for them to benefit the entire helicopter community. Operators in the NYC have an exemplary record of safe operations and good service to their customers and passengers.

FEBRUARY 4, 2009

Air Tour Committee gets started

Braving the snow, five local tour operators joined with Chairman Jeff Smith at Teterboro airport yesterday to fulfill their commitment to NYC officials and residents by beginning to share ideas that will lead to an effective committee.

JANUARY 26, 2009

Air Tour Committee established

Acting proactively to address concerns of Manhattan residents, ERHC's Chairman Jeff Smith and Special Advisor Robert Grotell brought together five area air tour operators to form ERHC's newest committee. The group's first meeting is expected soon and when more detail is available we'll post it here.

JANUARY 19, 2009

ERHC to participate in meetings

NYC's Economic Development Corporation and Upper West Side Councilwoman Gale Brewer are holding a meeting on the 22nd on the topic of complaints from Upper West Siders about helicopter tours. Also upcoming are Long Island meetings with legislators and staffs. ERHC looks forward to these learning and educating sessions.

ERHC members helped in ditching

Media attention on last week's airliner ditching in the Hudson river rightly focused on the plane's flight crew and NY Waterway ferry boats. But let's not forget the public service helicopters that brought divers to the scene, provided overhead reconnaissance and coordination, and the news gathering helicopters that broadcast images to help the public and emergency responders.

All in a day's work for the helicopter industry, the helping profession.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

East End high season winding down

Labor Day weekend is traditionally the last busy flying weekend of the summer for the east end, so we're hoping community tempers ease off along with flying pace so we can move towards productive dialog on how to find balanced solutions for affected residents.

ERHC members and non-members alike have achieved high rates of participation in East Hampton (HTO) airport's voluntary noise abatement procedures (VNAP). Looking at data analysis from HTO staff for April through mid-July (the last report we've received), of 1,329 flights tracked, 84% of flights showed a compliant track and 67% compliant altitudes. No one has had time to raise the numbers with supplemental data from pilots on days when weather or other causes could have required other tracks or altitudes, so these are very impressive numbers for voluntarily longer, higher, and thus friendlier flying.

Residents of Long Island's north fork should realize that the NYC region's professional helicopter pilots provide the safest mode of transportation and our community commitment this year is being measured by national politicians by our compliance with HTO's recommended flight paths. These paths recommend pilots fly inbound from the Sound or high over land to Peconic Bay to the ferry crossing then Northwest Creek. If you see east and south bound helicopters on this path, they are doing as the airport asks and politicians expect. This is good, neighborly, flying behavior. Pilots are not required to fly as high as we have nor along these routes but the massive participation shows we will follow recommendations voluntarily. Many people last winter expressed doubts our community could be trusted to fly as asked. The heaviest user of HTO this summer has logged 98% compliance with routings through mid-July. These facts close the book on the public's concern about ERHC and the pilot community's trustworthiness.

This summer's performance should also make it clear that the best solutions lie in working directly between communities, airports, FAA, and the ERHC. When your politicians call for hearings, regulations, studies, don't bother--it's going to cost you time, tax dollars, and result in ineffective, inflexible results. Working with ERHC and the pilot community directly has shown our results to be fast, flexible, and responsive. It's clear to us which is a better option. We hope you agree, and look forward to consultations this fall and winter aimed at further refining solutions for next year and beyond.

Don't forget to check the page on our ERHC public site, "What we do for LIers" to discover the tireless efforts ERHC and its members have accomplished this summer to show we care and can be trusted to do what's asked of us. We look forward to continued interaction as we continue providing information and fair, balanced solutions for all.

AUGUST 18, 2008

Pilots use HTO's voluntary routes

Many east end north fork residents see the fact that helicopters continue to appear in the sky is evidence of bad intent when in fact it's exactly the opposite. East Hampton airport (HTO)'s management has issued the graphic, below, showing the routes they'd like pilots to fly (inbound in red, outbound in green). The airport's reports show that 85% of helicopter flights followed these routes the weekend ending July 14 (the most recent data provided to ERHC).

Most pilots are following the airport's request, so please don't criticize us for doing right. We sympathize with those who feel affected. We will remain engaged in finding balanced solutions for Long Islanders, and look forward to working with airports and communities over the winter to make adjustments for next year. We have demonstrated that we can be trusted to do what we've been asked--all available data points to voluntary compliance success--so working with ERHC is a fast, flexible, and low-cost way to achieve balanced change.

hto routes

SI in the news

Staten Island's north shore has been in the news recently, as noted below on August 11. The residents there should know that recent airspace redesign efforts have led to the use of new departure paths for airliners at certain times of day. When these paths are in use, aircraft departing Linden, NJ's airport for points NE and SE (or vice versa) follow this path south of the Bayonne bridge and are limited in altitude by Newark airport's air traffic control tower, as other usual routings are too close to jets as they take off.

A recent news article speculates that pilots are flying over SI to save fuel. ERHC finds this unlikely, but is happy to review specific observations. The article also makes reference to safety concerns, which is also not especially worth worrying about, as the NYC area's professional pilots have such an exemplary safety record that it's fair to say we provide the safest mode of transportation in the region.

As always, ERHC's volunteers are here to facilitate the communication among various parties that informs and leads to balanced solutions. We are in the process of arranging a flight offer and meeting with Councilman McMahon, operators, and FAA to see if anything can be done to address residents' concerns about the SI north shore flight paths. We'll keep you informed along the way.

AUGUST 11, 2008

NY Times article: neighborly flying

ERHC's Special Advisor and Chairman quoted along with many others in an overall balanced and accurate story.

While ERHC sympathizes with those who feel adversely affected by helicopter flights, it should be noted that our community is responding by voluntarily following the most neighborly options available to pilots. The limitations of airspace and voluntary routes established by airport managers mean that one key tool of neighborly flying, varying routes, is not available to us.

At East Hampton, for example, the vast majority of flights are high and along the routes established by the airport, so we ask North Fork residents, please don't fault pilots for following recommended procedures. For those dismayed by the level of traffic, please know that people are entitled to operate air transportation businesses to serve a demand for air travel. Operators of those businesses in our region are meeting or exceeding all professional standards, industry best practices, voluntarily taking on higher costs and less business opportunity in order to fly neighborly, all while providing the safest mode of transportation in the region.

ERHC looks forward to meeting with those mentioned in the article who question the professionalism of the region's pilots, and those who have some misperceptions about compliance levels-East Hampton airport's own data shows high compliance. We also look forward to conversations with those who denigrate us with disparaging words which are not entirely true. Operators are showing their good citizenship through neighborly flying.

SI Councilman Letter to Editor

NY City Council member Michael McMahon of the north shore district wrote a letter to the editor of the Staten Island Advance, published August 8th. ERHC received his referenced letter last week and has contacted his staff.

ERHC's response to the letter:

Dear Editor;

We’d like to put Councilman McMahon’s letter of August 8 in perspective for SI residents.

The Eastern Region Helicopter Council worked many years ago to eliminate a helicopter route along the northeast-southwest axis of SI; pilots now fly off the south shore.

We met with Mr. McMahon in 2005 and explored the possible sources of helicopter traffic, limitations on routes due to overlying limited-access airspace, and potential solutions. We then reinforced to members the message of following industry best practices for neighborly flying around SI. This week, we received a copy of his letter to Regional Administrator Weiss.

With the beginning of the NY/NJ/PA Airspace Redesign at EWR by FAA this year, helicopters have at times only one eastbound option from near EWR, and ATC tells pilots to fly the approximate path Mr. McMahon indicates at an ‘at or below’ altitude. Pilots are obligated to follow such instructions. Residents of these communities need to know that. Pilots are not intentionally flying over these areas, they’re following instructions of ATC, meant to keep helicopters separated from airliners.

Residents should also know that ERHC is a volunteer, non-profit group and we do not “instruct” pilots to fly any given path. We do make recommendations, and the professional pilots of the NYC area have a demonstrated record of voluntarily observing such suggestions at a high rate.

ERHC has contacted Mr. McMahon’s staff, and is trying to arrange a donated orientation flight and a meeting of parties relevant to fair, balanced, and flexible solutions.

Over our 30 years of working with communities, ERHC and its members have won numerous community service awards; our efforts elsewhere this summer are showing stellar results. We look forward to the chance to help Staten Islanders very soon.

August 6, 2008

Focus on underlying issues, ERHC urges Suffolk Co

Recently, Legislator Edward Romaine of Suffolk County, NY, offered resolution 1673-2008, addressing helicopter flights over his county on Long Island. The bill is clearly pre-empted by the FAA's authority, but ERHC's leaders recognize the concerns that led to the bill. We've urged the county's leaders to work with us to continue the current focus on resident concerns and work through ERHC for no-cost, fast, flexible, fair and balanced solutions. We also noted the high level of voluntary participation that's been shown by members and non-members this year in NYC-east end flights. ERHC's leaders salute those friendly fliers.

Our letter (287kb pdf) to the full Suffolk County legislature was joined by support from the Long Island Business Aviation Association (LIBAA), and in news articles both the Aicraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and FAA have spoken on the topic of pre-emptiong of local attempts to regulate flights, assess fines, etc.

 

August 4, 2008

Misperceptions continue; right flight

ERHC continues to receive complaints from residents of Long Island who are under the impression our agreement with airports mandates aircraft to fly over water. In fact, on a few occasions we've received complaints and followed up by observing flight tracks at the time and date of the complaint and found the flights to be at or well above recommended altitudes! We've also been interviewed recently by the New York Times and Newsday on the subject and made this point, that flights over land will continue, ideally at higher altitudes, but the public needs to realize that altitudes are limited by air traffic control, so pilots may not be able to fly as high as they would like to.

Data collection continues, and we will provide a report at the end of summer to assess how this new ERHC-airport-community interaction is working. One thing is for sure, though, pilots are flying higher, more over water, and right on course at East Hampton airport.

See our page listing some of what ERHC is doing for Long Islanders.

JULY 30, 2008

East Hampton route compliance is up

For the most recent weekend reported, July 10-14, preliminary data from airport staff shows 85% of helicopter flights were on the voluntary noise abatement routes, and 69% met the altitude points-in-space.

Pilots following guidance routinely

As our members have done for many years, this summer they're doing exactly as asked by Long Island communities. With only one route to get from NYC to the east end above industry best practice altitude guidelines, namely over LGA and over the sound or high above the island, a significant portion of traffic to the east end is along the north shore.

ERHC has spent many hours reviewing flight tracks and making observations during visits to the homes of some complainants. "I've stood there with the callers, and we both see 100% of the helicopters are doing the right thing", says Robert Grotell, ERHC's Special Advisor "they're high, they're over the water, there are even airplanes flying below them".

Grotell recently followed up one complaint of a "low-flying" helicopter and found data to show it was over 2,500' in altitude. In another study of peak-time traffic, average altitudes of helicopters was over 2,500', with the vast bulk of flight tracks showing intent to follow the most recent flight route and altitude guidance.

Unfortunately, complaints are still coming in to ERHC and communities. A large portion of complaints are reporting helicopter overflights. There still persists the mistaken notion, published as recently as yesterday, in an east end publication, that all flights must be over water and above 2,500'. ERHC wishes everyone to know that we have been trying to correct this with news media ever since we first saw its appearance last winter, but the message doesn't ever seem to make it into print. There will still be flights over the island; pilots are responsible to choose the safest and most efficient flight path and sometimes this is over land. But when possible, we stongly encourage pilots to fly high and off shore.

JULY 19, 2008

Bait with vaccine to be dropped on LI

Forested areas will have a low level helicopter doing this work to combat rabid raccoons in the area. Helicopters in the service of public health. Newsday.

ERHC shares this with you as a public service; we have not connection with the operator or the vaccination effort.

JULY 15, 2008

What we do for Long Islanders

Some people have asked what ERHC, a volunteer organization, is doing to bring relief to Long Islanders bothered by helicopter flights. We came up with a quick listing and it's not necessarily comprehensive but covers a fair bit of what we do. Rather than trying to maintain the list in two places, we've placed it in the About section on ERHC's home site. Please review the list before criticizing us.

JULY 10, 2008

Flexibility can bring fast solutions

We regret that we can no longer promise to reply to every complaint. Some elected leaders have spread misinformation and this has led to us receiving complaints about expected flying that those leaders should know about.

Our commitment to seeking balanced solutions and advising pilots of your feedback continues. Thanks to the freedom of the airspace, and ERHC's relationship with our members, we are in a position to analyze and convey your concerns to pilots, who can then respond rapidly. This kind of communication and flexibility clearly provides the fastest and best solutions for Long Islanders.

JULY 2, 2008

Deception of LI'ers continues

We're sad to have to report that despite our volunteers' unrelenting efforts, one national leader continues to mislead Long Islanders about a broad array of elements regarding helicopter flights, betraying our good faith efforts to bring facts to his staff and the public (ERHC offered to meet with media in May to bring out facts, but received no response), and another continues threats.

A July 1 news release which you might see quoted in the news this week fans embers of discontented residents with assertions that are not factual and misrepresent ERHC's efforts and agreements.

ERHC also received an email reminder inviting us to a meeting in which we were again threatened with adverse legislation should our community not meet secret, unspecified standards of success set by that legislator. Oh, and then they wished us a happy 4th of July holiday.

We will issue additional postings and news releases as soon as we can. As you can imagine, it is hard for a volunteer group of pilots to keep up with a well-practiced juggernaut of political misinformation.

JUNE 4, 2008

Team effort for 2,300 e-flyers to fliers

Thanks to FAA Region Administrator Manny Weiss and the FAA Safety Team leader for our area, Joe Foresto, for putting together an e-flyer and sending it out to helicopter pilots of the tri-state area, reminding them to fly high, friendly, and observe the area's many voluntary noise abatement procedures. It's a good government-industry piece of teamwork that should help out the region's residents.

The mission of the FAA Safety Team: "To improve the Nation's aviation safety record by conveying safety principles and practices through training, outreach, and education. At the same time, FAASTeam Managers and Program Managers will establish meaningful aviation industry alliances and encourage continual growth of a positive safety culture within the aviation community".

June 3, 2008

VNAPs work at HTO, too

The professional helicopter pilots of the NYC region have long been accustomed to participation in airport recommended voluntary noise abatement procedures (VNAP) all over the area.

East Hampton, NY, airport uses AirScene technology to track aircraft within about 10 miles of the field, which doesn't have a control tower and sees a Spring-Summer increase in air traffic. Airport personnel review each flight to assess voluntary participation in recommended routes and altitudes. Recently the voluntary noise abatement procedures there were refined and specific points in space better identified for pilots.

Initial data from May 22-26 shows over 2/3 of flights were on-track and most met the altitude gate at one specific point along the route. Further refinement of the data will likely increase results, as pilots of off-track or altitude flights will have a chance to explain variations from either. Complaint phone call tallies have not been reported yet or cross-referenced to flight tracks.

Contacts from 'thanks' to much worse

Our new toll-free information line, 800-319-7410, for the entire region, took in some interesting calls, including a "thank you" from one caller who noted most traffic higher and further away but one that was closer. Our flyneighborly dot net site also generated a thanks or two but mostly a broad gamut from minimal information about the volume of traffic, to threats of lawsuits to complaints about disturbance of personal space and even one from a Long Islander wishing us to "crash and kill yourselves", adding that whenever that was to occur, their neighborhood would have a party.

ERHC's mission is communication and we especially like communicating with civilized people who have open minds and would like to hear our side of the issues as much as we would like to hear theirs. The news media have not provided the general public with accurate information, nor have public leaders. We work hard every day to set the record straight because the public deserves fairness and truth. We also welcome compliments!

JUNE 2, 2008

Early reports are mixed

Feedback from Memorial Day weekend and since covers the gamut from 'much better' to 'worst'. Mapping the trends shows most complaints come from the North Shore, which is where communities have asked us to encourage members to fly. Pilots appear to be voluntarily doing as asked.

There still seems to be misperceptions that helicopters will not be over land at all. The truth is, the story is more complex than that. It's not as simple as taking Parkway A or Parkway B. There are many factors a pilot considers when choosing a route and altitude. Safety and efficiency are the most important. Sometimes pilots ask Air Traffic Control for a given flight path and altitude and the controller cannot accomodate the request. Sometimes the weather is a factor--it's not unusual for strong winds to exist just a thousand feet up when they are light at the surface, sometimes the south shore is covered in fog while the rest of the island is clear. Please spend some time in the Learn pages.

 

MAY 24, 2008

New toll-free line for complaints

Our new information line is 800-319-7410. There are three options, one for LI, one for NYC, and one for other areas. We are a volunteer organization and with the level of misinformation that exists, it is going to take some time to respond properly to all complaints. We ask the public to have patience, and to explore the FAQs on the "Learn" pages, to become better informed about helicopter operations.

We will be doing our best to draw more questions out of the complaints we've received to help the public understand the situation better.

ERHC's effort to inform is ignored

By week's end, we hadn't received any contact from news media in response to our news release offering to provide information to better inform the public.

Good sessions should bring results

ERHC has been putting all the effort we can muster, given all the other demands of work and life, to continue outreach to helicopter operators around LI and the region on neighborly flying and on safety.

Thursday, we also traveled by ground to LI and met with Senate staff, the manager of Gabreski airport in Westhamption Beach, and the Mayor of Southamption Village. All three sessions were productive and full of good will. Follow on actions are in progress which should help resolve a variety of issues for a variety of participants in LI aviation.

ERHC has also been in touch with helicopter training companies, airport fixed base operators (FBOs), public service/EMS operators, and airport officials in an effort to get acquainted among ourselves and with the issues.

In the interest of air safety, ERHC has also been in touch with the Blue Angels and the US Marines helicopter unit, both of which are operating in and around our area this weekend. We provided them essential information to better enhance their situational awareness of other air traffic, as well as pointing them to appropriate charts and radio frequencies to communicate with other aircraft in the airspace around NYC.

MAY 21, 2008

ERHC working to clear the air for LI

From the complaints we've received in the last two weeks to news coverage on our efforts, it's clear that ERHC members' exemplary record is not clearly reaching the public, that our agreement letter of last winter is not portrayed completely, and the use of the new route could be better explalined (Version 7 of the NY Helicopter Route Chart became effective May 8). ERHC's volunteer leaders are planning to meet with news media on LI this week to help the public get the accurate information it needs to understand helicopter activity properly.

[UPDATE May 21: we've published a news release inviting news media to meet with us this Thursday on Long Island, over at the main ERHC web site, in the Media section.]

General Meeting leads off with FN

FN briefingOn May 14, our General Meeting attracted about 60 persons from and related to the helicopter industry. Safety and Fly Neighborly committees led off the program, which also featured guests from FAA, NYC, Teterboro airport, Rutgers University, and HAI. Sponsors included an avionics manufacturer and weather service provider. Additional presentations were from the IFR chairman on the latest in instrument flight, as well as the Chairman and Special Advisor's update on recent activities as well as the Chairman's review of 2007 census highlights and our web sites.

Another ERHC member donates flight

In addition to the March flights for East Hampton, a Teterboro-based member recently donated flight and crew time for new airport staff to see helicopter routes from the air and to speak with the crew about their activities. The event led to a better understanding of pilot concerns and limitations and will eventually help the communication process between aircraft operators, the public, and groups like TANAAC. Thanks from ERHC to the operator. We encourage other members to offer such flights to local staff periodically.

 

april 16, 2008

East End meeting in Southampton

Community outreach continues as ERHC Special Advisor Robert Grotell met Monday with Mark Epley, Mayor of Southampton Village. Grotell informed the mayor of ERHC's past achievements, recent efforts, and agreements along the East End, and listened to the mayor's concerns and reports of community complaints. Village Board Trustee William Bates is an outspoken opponent of the heliport in online reports. ERHC welcomes contact from news media to provide more balance to their articles on East End landing facilities.

ERHC reminds members to fly neighborly in the area, and encourage non-members to do the same. The Village is considering further limitations to operating hours and charging fees, as well as suggesting they will consider closing the pad, despite deed restrictions. In this latter eventuality, someone would have to file a lawsuit to reopen the pad, clearly not the best solution, and air transportation would suffer.

APRIL 14, 2008

ERHC meets College Point Civic Assn

By Robert Grotell, ERHC Special Advisor

NYC Council Member Tony Avella (D-Northeast Queens) asked the Eastern Region Helicopter Council to attend a meeting in the College Point community of Queens to address helicopter noise complaints that his office had received.

ERHC Special Advisor Robert Grotell met with approximately 30 residents at a College Point Civic Association gathering on April 9, 2008, and provided background information on the Throgs Route, the Class G Flushing Exclusion and listened to several local concerns from residents who live under the route. Information was also provided on how to file a noise complaint with ERHC (flyneighborly.net) as well as NYC's 311 system. The meeting opened a productive dialogue with the College Point community and is another example of ERHC's ongoing public outreach efforts.

 

April 2, 2008

Productive meeting with Rep. Bishop

By Robert Grotell, ERHC Special Advisor

On March 31, 2008, Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) held a follow up meeting to continue the discussion on helicopter noise impacts in his district and other areas of Long Island. The meeting was held in his Coram, NY office and was attended by Robert Grotell (ERHC); Manny Weiss, Diane Crean, Leo Prusak (FAA); Jim Brundige, Matt O’Brien (HTO); Tony Ceglio (FOK); and representatives for Senator Schumer and Senator Clinton.

The Congressman expressed his doubts over the voluntary nature of the current structure and our letter of agreement with the airports and Senator Schumer. His concern stems from continued complaints that he feels will only worsen during the summer season. One particular issue the Congressman raised was the lack of specific transition points off of the new North Shore Route for aircraft heading to HTO, FOK or 87N.

The FAA and I explained why transitions were not included on the new NY Helicopter Route Chart and how the recommended minimum altitude should go a long way in mitigating last season’s concerns from North Fork communities as well as those along the North Shore of Nassau and Suffolk counties. I then described our significant efforts over the past months, including working with the airports on modified noise abatement and monitoring procedures, conducting flight tests at HTO and FOK, our new websites, and our underlying commitment to work with communities and local elected officials to address their helicopter noise-related concerns. Jim Brundige described his positive perspective on the ERHC flight tests and explained how aircraft should be at or above 2,500 feet at Ferry before they begin their descent into HTO. Lastly, Tony Ceglio explained FOK’s draft helicopter procedures and also thanked ERHC for our efforts.

I further explained that our priorities include educating ERHC membership on the new North Shore Route and developing a series of performance indicators to determine program success. The Congressman was clear to all that he will push for increased FAA regulation if the program fails to adequately address the noise concerns.

Overall, Congressman Bishop was pleased with our efforts and those of the FAA and the airports. He was encouraged by our collective progress to date and closed the meeting in a positive manner with an improved outlook. He specifically thanked ERHC for aggressively taking the lead on many of the noise issues.

MARCH 24, 2008

Proactive donation of blade time

In the teeth of Friday's strong winds, and the President and Chief Pilot of an ERHC Regular Member flew a Eurocopter Dolphin from NJ to East Hampton (HTO), and Francis Gabreski (FOK) airports on Long Island in NY.

They conducted several flights along HTO's voluntary noise abatement routes with the airport manager and a prominent member of a local and vocal airport noise committee. ERHC Special Advisor Robert Grotell and the airport's assistant manager monitored the flight paths of the aircraft from the airport using the Air Scene equipment installed for traffic monitoring.

Both Grotell and the pilots report the series of activities provided some valuable information for improving the procedures and assisting area residents through sound reduction. The FOK meeting was productive and informative, said the pilots, who expect the airport's latest procedures to be issued to pilots in May.

MARCH 21, 2008

Ongoing communication

Our Special Advisor, Robert Grotell, continues to respond to submitted complaints. ERHC has responded to a misleading article in the East Hampton Star, and we continue our work with the Town Supervisor and management of the airport to address their concerns.

ERHC is bringing in industry assistance to the airport and developing relationships with airport businesses and the local aviation group. We hope to have a visible helicopter presence at the airport day in September, to allow the public to talk with operators and see the amazing flying machine that is the helicopter, up close.

An ERHC member is today donating an aircraft and pilot to conduct flights for airport and town officials, and discussions to facilitate resolution of current issues will take place.

february 18, 2008

Complaints to date

We're on the way to success.

The feedback we've received so far has been general in nature, and our Special Advisor, Robert Grotell, has been making contact with the correspondents. In the process we've made the complaints page more evident, since the writers so far have been writing via the general communication page instead of the more detailed complaint page. More information makes our subsequent action more useful to correspondents.

JANUARY 28, 2008

Let's get acquainted

ERHC has committed to follow up on resident complaints in our area in 2008, so if you're not yet a member, please check out our web site, write to us with your contact information, and we'll call to get acquainted. The more we know about your operation, the better we can explain it to the public, whether you're a member or not. Keep in mind members get access to a wealth of content on the members pages that will help you be safer, more professional, and more efficient. To date, our membership is mostly larger commercial operators, so we do need to get to know the utility, public service, and smaller commercial operators better.

We have a strong emphasis on safe, legal flying practices and professionalism. We can be a good resource for you. So again, let us know about you, we'll talk and get to know each other in a relaxed way so that if we do call again later in response to a complaint, we are starting from a basis of mutual aviator understanding. Thanks.

January 1, 2008

Introducing this site

Thank you for your interest in learning more about helicopter aviation in and around New York City. 'The Best' in many things, the NYC area also boasts one of the industry's safest and most professional helicopter communities.

ERHC has worked quietly in the background with FAA, government entities and citizen groups in the past, and now in 2008, as we begin our fourth decade of activity under severe criticism from residents and leaders along Long Island, it's time to present ourselves more publicly through this site.

We believe in the principle that factual information is at the crux of good solution finding among persons with different views on any given issue, and the best solution finding takes place at the lowest level possible through communication, mutual understanding, and voluntary efforts.

To that end, this site begins with the Learn link, where you can find out more about aviation generally, and FAQs on specific topics, plus technical information about the site. We will enhance this page with answers to questions you send us.

This set of pages is for the NYC region, with current events and announcements on this page, plus and introduction to ERHC. Other regions may join in the future in the same way.

The Contact pages allow you to reach us for anything from compliments to complaints, and is your avenue to tell us what you observe so we can help as part of our commitment in the letter to Senator Schumer. Links to and information about East End airports are also included.

The Future link puts the aerospace industry into perspective and explains why it takes so long for quiet technology innovations to reach the skies.

For Pilots is our appeal to pilots to continue to follow the spirit of friendly flying as often as possible, and our general suggestions on ways to accomplish this. Safety is a pilot's foremost responsibility, and the weight of information for any given flight may make it more or less difficult to be considerate as well.

December 27, 2007

Media Clarifications

Recently we've reviewed some media coverage of our Letter and our meeting with FAA and community leaders at Brookhaven Town Hall December 19. As in the past, few questions were directed to ERHC. Concerned citizens deserve the facts, so here are our clarifications of some media reporting:

So, as more and more people are enjoying enough economic prosperity that they can afford the benefits of personal air travel, and as more discover how available and empowering it can be to learn to fly, aviation's benefits are spreading, and that's a great thing. More air traffic to the East End may cause distress for some, and it's understandable human nature to be frustrated when public officials can't produce immediate results to complaints, but communities and ERHC have now found each other, and we have a plan for next summer. Please have the patience for the information to get out, and for ERHC's efforts to help, here at the lowest level, where the solution belongs.

December 17, 2007

Letter to Senator Schumer

Last week, ERHC joined with the managers of Westhampton and East Hampton airports in signing a Continued Cooperation and Compliance Agreement letter to US Senator Charles E. Schumer, D-NY.

Over the summer, many Long Island constituents contacted their national representatives instead of airports, local authorities, or ERHC, to file complaints about increased sound from helicopter flights near their communities. Senators Schumer and Hillary Clinton plus Congressman Timothy Bishop, D-NY-1, all called for FAA studies of LI air traffic. ERHC contacted these representatives and working together with FAA and the airports, have responded to the national leaders' concerns. The apparent increase in traffic is likely the result of ERHC initiatives and airport efforts to reduce traffic near other communities that were complaining to us in 2006.

This agreement includes the pledge of "shared commitment to working with affected communities to identify specific concerns and implement safe, balanced, and practical solutions". This should be no surprise to ERHC members, who know ERHC has had this commitment to communication with communities for decades.

There will also be a new recommended north shore route and waypoints on a new Helicopter Route Chart due out next year. ERHC also agreed to establish this web site and work regularly with airport managements and communities in developing new routings to address community concerns, under the banner "Long Island Helicopter Working Group".

ERHC will contact operators who are not following the recommended procedures to determine the particulars of the flight and learn more about operator concerns. Airports and ERHC will continue to take complaints via web and phone calls and keep records of the contacts.

Back in Spring of 2007, ERHC initiated and hosted a meeting of community members, FAA, operators and airport officials to address complaints from summer 2006. Some routes were changed, and many operators volunteered to fly different and higher routes. While this reduced the sound near some communities, it naturally increased it near others. This site is part of our ongoing effort to help communities understand air traffic and help operators understand community concerns.

ERHC will continue its efforts to get the word out to more and more community leaders with the facts of air traffic and helicopter safety.

Long Island Meeting Dec. 19

Also as part of this process, ERHC suggested that Congressman Bishop host a meeting of regional leaders, FAA, airports and ERHC so that all parties could get to know each other and the issues better in one place at one time for efficiency. We're happy to report that this meeting took place Wednesday, December 19, and a wide variety of views were shared.