“Helicopters play a critical role in business aviation, and NBAA has long fought to protect access for all operators,” said Christa Lucas, NBAA senior vice president of government affairs. “We also strongly support innovation and technology developments in our industry.”
The letter emphasized that the city does not have jurisdiction to impose the restrictions set forth in the two bills. The proposals are preempted by federal law, with only the FAA having the ability to regulate aviation over the city, and the terms of access to public heliports.
Bill No. 2026 would prohibit operations at those heliports by most charter (Part 135) operations if the helicopters are certified under Stage 1 or Stage 2 noise standards. Military and police operations – as well as selective charter operations, such as news reporting and medevac – would be exempt.
Tom McCormick, a Part 91 helicopter pilot and chairman of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council (ERHC), explained that one flaw in the bill is that “very few helicopters are actually certified under Stage 3, however a number of Stage 2-rated helicopters flying today are just as quiet, and could meet Stage 3 noise certification requirements.”
Bill No. 2067 would require the operators of the city’s heliports to collect documentation from every helicopter that takes off or lands at its facility, including its airworthiness certificate, registration, inspection report, the route flown to arrive at the landing site and the planned route of departure. The FAA already closely regulates helicopter operations and prohibits municipalities from burdening them with documentation or other requirements that are additional to – or even merely duplicative of – federal standards.