Chopper Nuisance Grows at Van Nuys Airport : The once-rural facility has become hub for most radio and television helicopters which begin their quest for news and traffic reports before 6 a.m. five days a week. It’s time to insist that the activity be regulated.

No other part of the city gets as much helicopter noise as neighborhoods near freeways.

Relentlessly, one after the other, starting before 6 a.m., helicopters depart Van Nuys Airport. They fly down the Ventura Freeway, through Sherman Oaks, Valley Village, Studio City and Cahuenga Pass to Downtown. Five mornings a week, six or more helicopters fly south over Sepulveda Basin and then overfly the San Diego-Ventura freeway interchange. Residents already burdened by the noise of freeways have a difficult time sleeping in the morning because these operations are conducted only a few hundred feet above their homes.

Are these flights necessary? Why are they so low? What is their purpose? Are they emergency police or fire operations? Why do they consistently begin before 6 o’clock every morning? Here are some facts that explain what is going on.

Van Nuys Airport has become the major source of helicopter noise over the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica Mountains. Once a quiet, rural airfield, it is now the headquarters for most radio and TV helicopters. Without hearings, community meetings or public notice, a major helicopter nuisance has grown up in the midst of the Valley. Routes over residences have been established in violation of the Federal Aviation Administration mandate for environmental impact studies. Virtually every media outlet in Los Angeles either leases or owns a helicopter and takes to the skies before 6 a.m. over freeways and residential neighborhoods.

Electronic news gathering, traffic reporting and live helicopter broadcasts are now big business. Millions of dollars of goods and services are hawked each year sandwiched between traffic reports from helicopters. The media make the money, but the residents pay the price. Sleep is interrupted; noise depresses property values, and the Department of Airports collects no revenue from the numerous sightseeing and dinner flights from Van Nuys Airport.

Helicopter usage over populated areas is conducted by companies that rent helicopters for sightseeing tours, particularly at night. The homes of movie and rock stars are magnets that draw helicopters to the Santa Monica Mountains.

If Valley residents aren’t bothered by the noise, they should be distressed by the danger lurking overhead, as illustrated by a Jan. 14 crash that killed two people. With so many aircraft buzzing around, there is an ever-present danger of midair collision. The Valley has some of the most crowded air space in the world. By FAA regulations, helicopters are exempt from the 1,000-foot minimum altitude which fixed-wing planes must maintain.

Helicopter operators seem oblivious to the resulting discomfort, inconvenience, and interference with the use and enjoyment of private property and ignore the well-documented adverse effect on wildlife.

Endless meetings and talk of “voluntary” improvement have not worked. The City Council Public Safety Committee will hold hearings Feb. 13 on helicopter safety as a result of the Jan. 14 crash. Some of the following steps can be taken by the council; others would require FAA action but could be recommended by the city. Our recommendations:

* Helicopters operated by police and fire agencies should be allowed at less than the minimum altitudes during emergencies, as long as they are flown safely. Others should not fly lower over populated areas.

* Non-emergency helicopters should not be allowed to operate out of Van Nuys Airport before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.

* Helicopters should be required to fly in and out of the airport using the Stagg Street industrial route rather than make southern basin departures over homes. The Ventura Freeway corridor and the Cahuenga and Sepulveda passes should not be major helicopter routes, since they were not established with proper environmental clearance. The Santa Monica Mountains should be off limits for noisy sightseeing flights. The Department of Airports should collect a fee of at least $25 for every sightseeing passenger.

* The media should pool coverage of accidents and traffic. That would mean fewer overflights, less chance of midair collisions and less-cluttered airspace for emergency operations. This won’t hurt the traveling public, because the Highway Patrol and Caltrans already have a comprehensive freeway monitoring system in place.

* Large identification numbers should be required on all helicopters, so that the public can identify and report noisy low-flying operations. The present anonymity leads to many abuses.

These reasonable and fair measures would go a long way toward improving the environment while preserving the rights of helicopter operators.