Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: We are wondering why there's been a lot of helicopter traffic over Manoa Valley in the last month or two. On May 20, three helicopters flew a circle pattern over the valley for half an hour. Helicopters over
Manoa unidentifiedAnswer: Helicopters from different companies or organizations apparently have been flying over Manoa Valley in recent weeks.
We weren't able to nail down the trio you described. The military, police and fire departments, Hawaii National Guard and even the University of Hawaii and Hawaiian Electric Co. all said don't blame them.
The closest was the Honolulu Police Department, which said its helicopter performed a demonstration for Manoa Elementary School that day. "Not three helicopters -- we only have one," said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.
Because you said the choppers were dark green, we thought we could trace them to the military, but officials said no.
On May 27, however, four Army helicopters were in Manoa rehearsing for a Memorial Day fly-over ceremony at Punchbowl, said John Fairbank, spokesman for the U.S. Army Pacific.
Fairbank also said he saw several helicopters flying through Manoa earlier in May and thought they may have been delivering something to the University of Hawaii. But UH spokeswoman Cheryl Ernst said, "We just do not use helicopters for delivery" of any kind, including construction projects. People called UH about a helicopter flying above the campus in mid-May, she said, but that turned out to be a helicopter lifting equipment to the site of a fallen Hawaiian Electric pole.
HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa suspected "many different helicopters" just happened to be involved in different jobs in recent weeks in and around Manoa. For HECO's part, aside from emergency work, a helicopter is used once a quarter for "pass-through" inspections of major lines along the Koolau ridgeline, he said.
Occasionally, helicopters will fly out of Diamond Head Crater and pass through areas such as Manoa, said Lt. Col. Kevin Krejcarek, spokesman for the U.S. Commander in Chief, Pacific.
Also, MAST (Military's Assistance to Safety and Traffic) helicopters will fly the most direct route to a hospital, he said. "But all of our helicopters abide by the flight altitude (requirement). It would be reason to take (pilots) off flights if they disobeyed that."
Call any of the services with complaints about military craft, he said. Otherwise, call the Federal Aviation Administration, 837-8300.
Complaints about tour helicopters
A previous column about helicopters flying through the downtown area quoted an FAA spokesman as saying there are no minimum altitudes they must maintain, but Citizens Against Noise says that does not hold true for tour helicopters."Except in approach and take-off maneuvers, tour helicopters are required by FAA regulations to maintain a minimum 1,500-foot AGL (aboveground level) over populated areas unless granted a special deviation by FAA to do otherwise," said David Leese, vice president of CAN.
That's true, said FAA Pacific representative Thomas Rea, but didn't apply to the complaint he addressed in Kokua Line. The regulation "has been very effective in regulating the tour operators on the outer islands," he said.
For information, write to CAN at P.O. Box 27705, Honolulu, HI 96827.
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com