FAA opens public comment period on North Shore Helicopter Route

The Federal Aviation Administration has opened a 60-day public comment period on its North Shore helicopter route rule, as required by legislation authored by Rep. Lee Zeldin and enacted as part of the FAA reauthorization bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the president on Oct. 5. 

The comment period officially opened on Nov. 2 and continues through Jan. 2. Comments may be submitted online.  Comments may also be submitted by postal mail to: Docket Operations, M-30; U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001; or by fax to (202) 493-2251. Be sure to reference Docket No. FAA-2018-0954.

The legislation required the agency to, within 30 days of enactment of the new law, open a 60-day comment period and a public hearing on the rule, which was extended for four years in 2016 and is set to expire in August 2020.  The law requires the FAA to assess the rule with community input.

There is no word yet on a public hearing, though the FAA has scheduled a public meeting in a “workshop format” on Wednesday, Nov. 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Riverhead Middle School. 

Zeldin said in a statement issued Friday afternoon that the law requires a public hearing and he will do everything he can to make sure the agency — which in 2016 extended the rule on an “emergency” basis without a hearing or even the requisite 30-day notice — holds the hearing as required.

“A workshop idea can very well complement a public hearing, but there’s no way it can or will be in lieu of a public hearing to receive oral testimony. That’s not an option by law, by me, and for many others,” Zeldin said. 

Noise from low-flying helicopters has plagued area residents for years, as Hamptons-bound helicopter traffic traverses the north shore. 

The north shore route was first published by the FAA in 2008 as a temporary rule — ironically to alleviate helicopter noise in Nassau and western Suffolk by forcing helicopter traffic to travel east along the coast until the aircraft reach the twin forks, where they are free to head south. The vast majority of helicopter traffic — an estimated 70 percent — is bound for East Hampton’s municipal airport. 

The rule requires pilots to operate over water along the north shore and to maintain a minimum altitude of 2,500 feet. But the rule allows pilots the discretion to operate over land and at lower altitudes for safety reasons, when weather conditions require.

Federal regulators say there are “significant safety implications with pushing all helicopter traffic farther over the water,” and prefer to have the aircraft operate within sight of the coastline. 

Residents and local elected officials have long sought to have the FAA require Hamptons-bound helicopter traffic to use a south shore route, but that would require helicopters leaving Manhattan to traverse through JFK airspace and could cause delays or complicate their trips.  They have also sought to have the FAA mandate that helicopters remain offshore traveling east past Orient Point and crossing the bays to reach East Hampton.