Van Nuys : Panel OKs Move to Curb Chopper Noise

A city panel this week adopted several measures intended to curb helicopter noise generated out of Van Nuys Airport, including a request that the federal government set a minimum altitude of 1,000 feet for choppers flying over the Los Angeles area.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners in a meeting late Tuesday voted to ask the Federal Aviation Administration to set the altitude minimum and to take other steps to reduce helicopter noise in the Los Angeles area. Rules now permit helicopters to fly at any altitude under certain conditions and circumstances.

The approved measures include the following:

* Request that the FAA set a 1,000-foot altitude minimum specifically over the Ventura Freeway route, an existing route on the FAA’s map of recommended routes for helicopters in Los Angeles. South Valley homeowners had expressed concern that this step would formalize the freeway as a route, but board president Theodore Stein said that was never the airport department’s intention.

* Encourage media organizations to practice pool coverage when monitoring traffic and news events.

* Make a recommendation to the Los Angeles City Council that it set a minimum altitude for police, fire and other city helicopters when they are not responding to an emergency or conducting patrols.

* Require all helicopters leasing space at Van Nuys Airport to submit a plan describing how they intend to fly more quietly.

In addition, the board created a task force--to be co-chaired by commissioners Patricia Schnegg and Michelle Park-Steel and include residents, helicopter operators and media representatives--to look into other ways to reduce helicopter noise.