FAA Making Changes to Decrease Helicopter Noise

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has a message for residents of Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia: It has heard your complaints about the ever-present helicopter noise in the area and is taking steps to address it.

Helicopter pilots are now being ordered to fly at higher altitudes or change their flight paths in order to reduce the impact of the noise they make over residential areas.

The new policy was announced by Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., and agency and local officials during a press conference in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday.

The announcement followed an FAA analysis of data from a pilot program to track helicopter noise complaints by residents using a system developed on recommendations made in a 2021 Government Accounting Office report which Beyer, whose district includes parts of Fairfax County, Arlington County, Alexandria and Falls Church, requested.

“Since I took office over eight years ago, helicopter noise has been a constant source of complaints from constituents across Northern Virginia,” Beyer said. 

“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,” he said.

“The actions we announced with partners at the federal and local level include FAA changes to helicopter flight paths and regional jurisdiction funding to continue the valuable complaint tracking system which helped inform those changes,” Beyer continued.

“These actions are a direct response to community input, and I thank the many people whose efforts helped inform these actions. Today marks an important day mitigating helicopter noise in our area,” he said.

Beyer said that, over the years, he has heard from “many, many, many constituents about the nuisance of helicopter noise.”

According to the FAA, the changes came from a relatively new system that allows residents to complain about specific helicopter noise by filling out a form online or calling a phone number and leaving a voicemail.

The FAA said it used information from the complaints and available flight tracking data to identify likely sources of the noise.

“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,” said Pete Hearding, deputy assistant administrator for policy, international affairs and environment at the FAA.

Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey said the new policy is a direct result of resident involvement in their government.

“In a democracy it is crucial that people have a voice in how their government affects them,” she said.

But Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson was quick to point out that the new helicopter noise complaint tool is 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,” Wilson said. “Our residents weren’t just listened to — they were heard.”

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