Helicopter Noise In Northern Virginia Tackled Through New Measures

ARLINGTON, VA — New measures are being introduced to reduce the impact of helicopter noise in Northern Virginia and the DC region.

Helicopter noise has been a common complaint to the office of Rep. Don Beyer, who represents Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and part of Fairfax County in the 8th congressional district. Beyer and other officials held a news conference Tuesday to announce the new helicopter noise measures.

The new measures will raise altitudes of flights and adjust flight paths to reduce the impact of noise over residential areas. The Federal Aviation Administration had analyzed data on helicopter noise complaints through a pilot program that Beyer requested. In addition, that complaint system will be extended beyond a pilot program.

"Here in the nation’s capital with military, medical, commercial and other aviation, aircraft noise will always be with us – but there are things we can do to help reduce the impact on residents," Beyer said in a statement. "The actions we announced [Tuesday] with partners at the federal and local level and our friends at HAI include FAA changes to helicopter flight paths and regional jurisdiction funding to continue the valuable complaint tracking system which helped inform those changes."

Joining Beyer at the news conference were representatives from the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and Helicopter Association International, which worked on the helicopter noise mitigation measures.

"Working with U.S. Congressman Beyer and Northern Virginia and Maryland local governments, we were able to reduce helicopter noise and maintain safe operations for these communities," said Peter Hearding, deputy assistant administrator for the FAA’s Office of Policy, International Affairs and Environment. "It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we’re all in the same room with the same access to information and working toward the same goal."

Ronald Tickle, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Real Property, noted the Department of Defense's commitment to addressing helicopter noise while continuing to complete required missions.

Local leaders from Arlington County, Fairfax County, City of Alexandria and City of Falls Church were present to announce an agreement between the localities to fund the helicopter noise complaint system beyond the pilot program.

"We are grateful to Congressman Beyer for his efforts to find creative ways to identify and address the impacts of helicopter noise in our communities," said Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson in a statement. "This helicopter noise complaint tool was far more than a nicety to assuage frustrated residents. This tool gathered data that was used by the FAA to make important changes that will mitigate helicopter noise across our region."

The helicopter noise complaint system has allowed residents to submit noise concerns through a webform, iPhone and Android-compatible mobile app, or voicemail at the noise complaint hotline at 877-209-3200. Using flight track data, the system can accurately identify the aircraft generating concerns.

We are very pleased that the FAA is permanently adopting last year’s pilot program, a helicopter noise complaint for our region," Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey said. "We are especially pleased that our residents could participate meaningfully in this process, and now will continue to."