FAA to delay helicopter flight path rules over LI

Long Island residents hoping for some relief from helicopter noise will have to wait a little longer.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it will delay its implementation of permanent flight path rules for helicopters flying over the Island because it has received nearly 1,000 comments.

The rules, now voluntary for helicopter operators, are meant to provide relief to North Shore and East End residents by making helicopters fly over water at a minimum altitude of 2,500 feet then crossing over land in the "least populated" areas.

"The FAA's proposal to require helicopter operators to use the North Shore Long Island route generated nearly 1,000 comments," said Jim Peters, an FAA spokesman in New York. "Because the agency has to review and address each comment before issuing a final rule, the FAA will not be able to issue a final rule before the end of this summer."

A public comment period on the new rules closed at the end of June. A thousand comments on a proposed regulation change is unusual, Peters said. By comparison, when the FAA proposed changing the regulations for aircraft flying over the Hudson River following a midair collision that killed nine people a year ago, there were only 113 comments, he said.

Under the proposed regulations, helicopters flying from Manhattan to East Hampton and Gabreski (Westhampton Beach) airports have to fly one mile offshore over Long Island Sound.

One of the side effects of these regulations is that residents in these "least populated" areas have encountered more noise as helicopters pass overhead.

In Shoreham and Wading River, where many helicopters have been crossing over to reach their East End destinations, residents made 41 comments to the FAA about the regulation changes.

Most of these comments sought a change that takes helicopters away from their homes and said they feared a permanent routing of traffic will mean even more constant noise.

Wading River resident William Behrens said finding a solution to helicopter noise shouldn't be "focusing an annoyance in one area."

Shelter Island resident David Ruby agreed that the FAA should reconsider its plan. The plan seems to move helicopter noise from the west to eastern communities, he said.

"The FAA action will have significant noise impacts on the North Fork and Shelter Island," Ruby said.

Four years ago, rules the FAA plans to make permanent were agreed to by the Eastern Region Helicopter Council, operator of 90 percent of the Island's helicopter flights.

Council spokesman Stefan Friedman said Friday that voluntary noise reduction has resulted in a 64 percent drop in noise complaints from individual households across Long Island. The council believes that imposing the rule would make flight less safe and "concentrate noise" in North Hempstead and the North Fork, he said.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has fielded complaints about helicopter noise and worked with the FAA to craft a relief plan. He vowed to "keep the FAA's feet to the fire" on regulating helicopter traffic.

"The FAA's decision to put in place a rule preventing low flying helicopters over people's homes on Long Island is a great victory," Schumer said in a statement. "The need to evaluate so many comments gives us time to make sure the rule they implement is both strong and enforceable and serves the needs of the East End as it does for the rest of Nassau and Suffolk counties."