April 10, 2008

Safety drill postponed until April 19

Due to forecast inclement weather and the complexity of the event, host Patricia Wagner of East 34th Metroport made the difficult call Wednesday, to reduce inconvenience for as many as possible. If you were planning to attend, please join us on the 19th.

April 2, 2008

Productive meeting with Rep. Tim Bishop

By Robert Grotell, ERHC Special Advisor

On March 31, 2008, Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) held a follow up meeting to continue the discussion on helicopter noise impacts in his district and other areas of Long Island. The meeting was held in his Coram, NY office and was attended by Robert Grotell (ERHC); Manny Weiss, Diane Crean, Leo Prusak (FAA); Jim Brundige, Matt O’Brien (HTO); Tony Ceglio (FOK); and representatives for Senator Schumer and Senator Clinton.

The Congressman expressed his doubts over the voluntary nature of the current structure and our letter of agreement with the airports and Senator Schumer. His concern stems from continued complaints that he feels will only worsen during the summer season. One particular issue the Congressman raised was the lack of specific transition points off of the new North Shore Route for aircraft heading to HTO, FOK or 87N.

The FAA and I explained why transitions were not included on the new NY Helicopter Route Chart and how the recommended minimum altitude should go a long way in mitigating last season’s concerns from North Fork communities as well as those along the North Shore of Nassau and Suffolk counties. I then described our significant efforts over the past months, including working with the airports on modified noise abatement and monitoring procedures, conducting flight tests at HTO and FOK, our new websites, and our underlying commitment to work with communities and local elected officials to address their helicopter noise-related concerns. Jim Brundige described his positive perspective on the ERHC flight tests and explained how aircraft should be at or above 2,500 feet at Ferry before they begin their descent into HTO. Lastly, Tony Ceglio explained FOK’s draft helicopter procedures and also thanked ERHC for our efforts.

I further explained that our priorities include educating ERHC membership on the new North Shore Route and developing a series of performance indicators to determine program success. The Congressman was clear to all that he will push for increased FAA regulation if the program fails to adequately address the noise concerns.

Overall, Congressman Bishop was pleased with our efforts and those of the FAA and the airports. He was encouraged by our collective progress to date and closed the meeting in a positive manner with an improved outlook. He specifically thanked ERHC for aggressively taking the lead on many of the noise issues.

March 24, 2008

Generosity for East End understanding

On Friday, the President and Chief Pilot of an ERHC Regular Member flew a Eurocopter Dolphin from NJ to East Hampton (HTO), and Francis Gabreski (FOK) airports on Long Island in NY.

They conducted several flights along HTO's voluntary noise abatement routes with the airport manager and a prominent member of a local and vocal airport noise committee. ERHC Special Advisor Robert Grotell and the airport's assistant manager monitored the flight paths of the aircraft from the airport using the Air Scene equipment installed for traffic monitoring.

Both Grotell and the pilots report the series of activities provided some valuable information for improving the procedures and assisting area residents through sound reduction. The FOK meeting was productive and informative, said the pilots, who expect the airport's latest procedures to be issued to pilots in May.

March 21, 2008

Early focus on safety, communities

ERHC has started out 2008 with a long list of activities, but prominent among them are the upcoming heliport safety drill on April 12 at East 34th Street Metroport and Long Island efforts with the public and leadership at various levels.

For the third year in a row, Atlantic Aviation Metroport hosts a safety preparedness drill, renamed in honor of our safety leader who lost his life while a pedestrian in Manhattan last fall. Safety is an integral part of aviation consciousness, we take it seriously here and as a result, the professional helicopter community around NYC provides the region's safest mode of transportation.

In the boroughs and on Long Island, ERHC's leadership and Special Advisor have attended meetings, corresponded, and spoken with leaders local and national, aimed at continuing to find balanced solutions to community concerns. The helicopter business is doing well and customers are happy with service we safely and legally provide in the national airspace. ERHC's members have a long history of safe and neighborly flight across our increasingly crowded megalopolis.

News Media are welcome, see our news release page.

January 1, 2008

Welcome to the new look of ERHC's web site

With the year 2008, we greet broader public interest in helicopter activities in an around New York City by tweaking the look, organization, and contents of 'erhc dot org'.

For the public:

fly neighborly

For the media:

For our members:

ERHC's volunteer leaders look forward to a great 2008.