Orange : Residents’ Help Sought in Easing Copter Noise

City officials are calling on residents to help solve the problem of noise pollution due to low-flying helicopters.

City Manager J. William Little said residents who notice noisy choppers should note the exact time and the direction in which the aircraft are flying, then call the information in to the mayor’s hot line along with their names and addresses. The hot line number is 532-0461.

Little recently met with Marine Corps, California National Guard and Federal Aviation Administration officials to discuss the problem and afterward said he is optimistic it will be solved.

The Marines operate a fleet of 120 helicopters from its Tustin air base, while the California National Guard flies another 100 out of the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Los Alamitos.

Part of the problem is in determining whether the low-flying helicopters are military or civilian, Little said.

“The military branches fly specific routes over Orange and keep accurate logs as to the flight times of all their helicopter operations,” he said. Information from residents “will enable us to verify with the military whether or not the reported noise disturbance originated from one of their helicopters.”