The Eastern Region Helicopter Council (ERHC) and Helicopter Association International (HAI) have partnered with aviation noise consultancy PlaneNoise to launch a helicopter noise complaint system in the Washington, D.C. region. Their new initiative focuses on airport and aircraft noise complaint–management solutions, noise abatement–procedure compliance monitoring, and related government and community affairs. “Both ERHC and HAI take seriously the obligation to fly neighborly and represent our industry responsibly,” said John Shea, director of government affairs for HAI.
ERHC and HAI seek to work with the D.C. community to review and process noise complaints and use this data to help mitigate helicopter noise. D.C.-area residents may complete and submit noise concerns via web form, iPhone and Android-compatible mobile apps, or voicemail at the noise-complaint hotline.
Using available flight-tracking data, the system will identify likely aircraft generating concerns and all associated data. ERHC chairman Jeff Smith said his group is “grateful to be working with HAI and the FAA to collaborate on finding a commonsense solution to the noise issue in Washington, D.C. This program offers a single-point repository to track complaints and then look at the data to find options for addressing the issue.”