FAA OKs Move to Cut Copter Noise at L.A. Airport

In a triumph for homeowners angry over helicopter noise at Los Angeles International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to require the aircraft to fly at 2,000 feet near the airport.

The action comes after 15 months of negotiations between airport officials, the FAA, helicopter pilots and homeowner representatives from communities stretching from the South Bay north to Marina del Rey and Culver City.

Approval Expected Next Week

“This is not only a victory for residents surrounding the airport, but I think it is a victory for everyone in Los Angeles,” Richard Musella said Thursday.

Musella, who lives in Marina del Rey, heads the airport’s area advisory committee, the group that worked to have the helicopter height limit increased from its existing 1,500-foot level.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, which establishes airport noise abatement policies, is expected to approve the new limit when it meets next week. The FAA will enforce the limit within 30 to 45 days after the commission votes, said Bud Riebel, the federal agency’s assistant air traffic manager at LAX.

Bill Dvorak, president of the Professional Helicopter Pilots Assn., a Southern California group, said some pilots will undoubtedly be unhappy with the new restriction because it means they will be flying closer to larger aircraft.

“I think the guys in the smaller helicopters especially would prefer to have a little more separation from the fixed-winged aircraft,” Dvorak said.

Dvorak added that helicopter pilots, under the new rule, will have to make steeper descents, perhaps causing uneasiness among some passengers.

“We are trying to give our people a comfortable ride too,” he said.

Airport area residents have complained for years about helicopter noise. After the 1984 Summer Olympics, when the number of helicopter flights above the airport increased fourfold to about 400 a day, the FAA raised the minimum flight level from 1,000 feet to 1,500.

However, residents and officials from various communities, including the Los Angeles City Council, continued to press the agency to raise the limit to 2,000 feet to further decrease noise levels on the ground.

90 Flights Daily

The number of helicopter flights at or near the airport is now estimated at about 90 a day, according to Robert Beard, who oversees LAX’s noise abatement operations.

In addition to the altitude change, one of the busiest helicopter routes just south of the airport will be shifted eastward over an industrial area between Sepulveda and Aviation boulevards.

The change was implemented to move the route, currently following Sepulveda Boulevard south to Artesia Boulevard, farther away from homes in El Segundo and Manhattan Beach, officials said.