Helicopter flights to change tack after school complains of noise
Print Edition
THE operator of the city’s first sightseeing helicopter rides has agreed to adjust one of its routes in response to complaints of noise pollution from a local school.
The principal of Jincai High School in the Pudong New Area said the noise from the helicopters was making it difficult for children to concentrate.
“It was so loud that the pupils couldn’t hear what their teachers were saying,” Zhao Guodi told Shanghai Daily yesterday.
Another teacher, surnamed Li, said: “On Monday, I had to stop three times during a single class because the noise was so loud.”
Ren Yibing, general manager of Yiyang Cultural Co, which operates the flights in partnership with Kingwing General Aviation Co, told Shanghai Daily that as a result of the complaints he has arranged for the route of one of the flights to be altered to ensure it no longer causes problems for local people.
“The sightseeing tours are new to the city, so we apologize for failing to take these details into account,” Ren said.
The flights have been running on a trial basis for the past week, with the first official trips getting under way today.
If the revised route continues to cause upset, it will be adjusted further, he said.
The announcement came after a teacher from the high school complained to the police.
Other locals also said they had been annoyed by the noisy choppers.
“My 22-month-old granddaughter runs into my arms and covers her ears with her little hands every time she hears the helicopter,” said a 60-year-old woman surnamed Mao who lives at Taolin Residence, close to the high school.
“It’s not just the noise, you can also feel the pressure in your ears, like when a plane takes off,” she said.
An unnamed official from the neighborhood committee at Taolin — a complex that is home to about 2,000 people, many of them elderly — said he’s received numerous complaints about the noise from the aircraft.
Lang Mengwei, a pupil at Jincai High School, said the disruption caused by the choppers was exacerbated by the fact that they were flying so low.
“It sounded like they were just above us,” she said.
Ren said his company is aware of the problem and has asked the local air traffic control authority for permission to fly at a height of 300 meters, up from 200m at present, which should help to reduce the noise.
Also, the 12-seat helicopter used in the trials for flights over populated areas has been replaced by a smaller, and quieter, four-seater, he said.
Yiyang and Kingwing provide three tours from their base at the Zhengyang Helipad in Pudong: over the former World Expo site, the Huangpu River and the under-construction Disney Resort.
Each lasts for between six and 25 minutes, and costs between 4,000 yuan (US$640) and 12,000 yuan.
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