FAA extends disputed North Shore Helicopter Route to 2022

Federal officials have extended a mandatory and controversial North Shore Helicopter Route for two more years as they continue to reevaluate the path.

In 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration made the route mandatory for helicopters flying along the North Shore. The route requires pilots to fly about a mile offshore until they reach the North Fork, when they typically transition south while traveling to the Hamptons.

The route irritates some East End residents, who said it created more noise under the transition path, although it quieted skies for those living farther west. In October 2018, the federal government passed a bill requiring the FAA to reevaluate the route, and the agency is reviewing more than 300 comments on the issue. 

The FAA announced on Tuesday that the route, previously set to expire Thursday, would be extended until Aug. 6, 2022.

“The extension allows current operations to continue while the agency further assesses proposed route modifications and voluntary operating agreements during the extension,” an FAA spokeswoman said in a statement.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said the ultimate goal should be an all-water route, met with FAA officials on Tuesday and lauded the decision.

“It is good news that the FAA will extend the current North Shore Route for another two years, because allowing it to lapse would return Long Islanders to the bad old days of incessant, low-flying helicopter flights in countless communities,” he said. “Now, we must expand it to create a true all-water route around the whole North Fork.”

Not all welcomed the news.

“The NSR has been a failure since its implementation,” said Teresa McCaskie, an anti-noise advocate from Mattituck. “Therefore, the FAA gets an ‘F’ for failing to address residents’ noise and safety concerns.”

Members of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council have been voluntarily flying an all-water route around the North Fork in 2020, said vice president Jeff Smith.

“We’ve always believed that voluntary routes are much more manageable than mandatory routes,” Smith said. “In this case, we are doing above and beyond what the North Shore Route requires, anyway.”

A bill sponsored by Schumer and  Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) in the House would mandate that voluntary route. Suozzi also commended the FAA’s latest decision.

“The North Shore Route protects the communities I represent from incessant helicopter noise, and I applaud Senator Schumer’s leadership to help secure the extension,” Suozzi said in a statement.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.