Helicopters Over Ramona
Supervisor Jacob Intervenes to Address Noise, Irregular Flight Patterns Disturbing to Local Residents

By Jim Evans

David Vargo doesn’t mind helicopters. He understands their value in aviation and appreciates their importance in fighting Ramona’s perennial wildfires — he just doesn’t want them flying over his neighborhood day and night, drowning out conversations, television programs and disturbing local wildlife.

To some Ramona residents who used to live in Point Loma, directly under the flight paths from Lindburgh Field, it sounds like déjà vu all over again. It’s also a not-so-subtle reminder about why they moved to Ramona in the first place.

Vargo, who lives just southeast of the Ramona Airport, submitted a petition to Supervisor Dianne Jacob with the signatures of about 75 Ramona residents who are concerned about the recent noise of low-flying helicopters over their homes.

The helicopters are part of the Silver State Helicopter School training program, which practices out of the Ramona Airport and flies directly over neighborhoods at inconsistent hours.

Jacob responded by organizing a meeting at her office in July between concerned residents and county airport, Silver State, and FAA officials and officials from Gillespie Field in El Cajon, where Silver State operates one of its flight academies.

“It was a good meeting,” Jacob said afterward. “It was certainly good for Ramona residents, because county airport officials agreed to look at alternate flight paths for the helicopters. They will have to obtain approval from the FAA, of course, but there doesn’t appear to be any reason why they cannot make some accommodations to improve the situation.”

Vargo, too, agreed that the meeting seemed to go well, and he and other neighbors who attended the meeting were grateful to Jacob for coordinating the meeting.

“We know that there has to be a better flight path than directly over our homes, and we will look forward to any changes that will improve the current conditions,” he said.

Rick Reyes, who manages the Silver State Flight School in El Cajon and attended the meeting, empathized with local residents but said he hopes they understand that FAA requirements for student training mandate flying close to the airport, where student pilots can more easily practice takeoffs and landings. That makes it almost impossible to avoid flying over some residential areas.

“The government is not providing helicopter service for fires and other emergencies like it used to, so we have to step in and fill the gap to assist government agencies with transport and external load/firefighting operations,” Reyes said.

“To be sure, advanced training can take place in more remote areas like the desert, where we don’t disturb anybody,” he added, “but preliminary training must take place close to an airport, according to the FAA.”

Silver State will continue business as usual, according to Reyes, until and unless the FAA approves alternate flight paths. In the meantime, local residents have a “wait-and-see” attitude. However, some residents think helicopter flights might have diminished somewhat in frequency since the meeting.

Additional concerns mentioned at the meeting included flight patterns of fixed-wing aircraft at the Ramona Airport. That issue might be addressed at a future meeting between residents and county airport staff members, Jacob said.