Hey, there! Log in / Register
Citizen complaint of the day: There's loud, there's really loud and then there's frickin' helicopter-tours loud
By adamg on Sat, 04/24/2021 - 10:42am
An irritated citizen in the Back Bay files a 311 complaint about a helicopter, based in Norwood, whose pilot gives well off tourists tours of Boston - tourists who might be nearsighted given how close to the ground it flies - and sometimes as early as 5:30 a.m.:
Can something be done about the N933HD helicopter out of Norwood who does tours of Boston? I generally don't mind helicopters and recognize that it's part of city life, but this one literally shakes my floors and walls despite flying at 1000ft. Last summer, and I presume it will happen again this year, they did sunrise tours over the city at 5:30 am waking residents up daily. It it the LOUDEST helicopter imaginable.
The city responds it's out of its hands and that the complaint should be filed with Massport's Noise Abatement Office.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Good for them for getting the
Good for them for getting the tail number.
Is there a way to look up the owner's contact info and ask them if they could stop the 5:30 am tours?
It would be nice if the city helped advocate for residents with Massport and the FAA. Even though the city doesn't have the authority to regulate aircraft, the other authorities would listen to the mayor a lot more than an individual resident.
I just wanted to chime in and
I just wanted to chime in and confirm the sightseeing helicopters have been really annoying this year. I'm not sure if they've been given clearance to fly lower or if it's that they're circling multiple times, but it's definitely frustrating & loud.
I don't understand why something for the benefit of only a few people sightseeing should be allowed to disrupt whole neighborhoods, some days multiple times per hour.
I wish City Council & the mayor's office would get involved. At the very least to require a minimum altitude when flying over the city.
311 is not a right place for
311 is not a right place for this complaint.
It’s a beginning.
Part of 311’s job is to redirect complaints or inform where the complaint should made. Sometimes you just don’t know where to start.
The helicopters are extremely disruptive.
Makes me even madder to learn this is some tourist tour. Kudos to this citizen for identifying the specific helicopter and reporting it.
How certain are you that it
How certain are you that it is a sightseeing helicopter and not one contracted to work for one of our local TV news stations?
FAA
Tail numbers and registered flight plans will often give you enough information to figure this out.
Flight tracker is fun, too. If following dots slowly moving on a map is fun for you
The news copters are over the Expressway
hovering over Dorchester at sunrise. We can relate to the people of Back Bay.
or same helicopter?
It would not surprise me if the same aircraft is used to fly for news agencies at times, and give tours or other activities at other times. How would the person lodging the complaint purport to know?
A news helicopter will usually have
the station's logo emblazoned all over it. And it's pretty hard to miss that if the copter is flying low enough that you can clearly read the copter's registration number.
Senior morning naked roof
Senior morning naked roof dancing starts Monday.
I thought the Back Bay
I thought the Back Bay trended towards mansford roofs? Hard to dance on those.
It might have been a medivac. Boston is the trauma relief treatment center.
I think you mean...
...mansard roofs, which have a flat top and are theoretically danceable on. They're probably in terrible shape, though.
If wasn't, but on the subject of life flight - I used to live in the neighborhood, and when life flight would come in low and hot I never minded it. What I did mind was when they took off and followed the exact same path. The rush is over, folks, maybe think about your surroundings a bit.
Well off?
$133 a person for a 45 minute tour is hardly only for the “well-off tourists “. I doubt the Kardashians are clamoring for a chance to squeeze into a chopper the size of a lemon for a look at olde towne.
Perhaps they aren’t well off
Perhaps they aren’t well off but they should definitely screw off. Helicopters are unbelievably annoying.