Laguna Beach : Base Officials Agree to Gauge Copter Traffic

Officials at Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center have agreed to monitor helicopter traffic over Laguna Beach after residents complained about low-flying, noisy air traffic along the coastline.

In a meeting Monday night at City Hall with Mayor Robert F. Gentry, Air National Guard Lt. Col. William Davies said he would instruct pilots to avoid portions of the city as helicopters make their way to and from exercises. The pilots, with California Air National Guard and Army reserves, will be warned by military officials if their UH-1 Huey choppers fly below a minimum of 1,000 feet or in unusual patterns, Gentry and Davies said Tuesday.

Gentry presented Davies with logs taken by residents of hundreds of helicopter flights to find out how much activity originates in Los Alamitos.

“We’re not so sure we’re the source of that problem,” Davies said. “But we’re more than happy to cooperate.”

Meetings are scheduled next week with officials from the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, whose helicopters regularly fly over the city.

“If they do as they have apparently promised, (living in) Laguna Beach will be a much more pleasant experience,” said Dave Forsythe, a Laguna Beach resident who has put together a pamphlet for residents to monitor flights from military bases in Orange County.