Noise Levels from Urban Helicotpter Operations, New Orleans, Louisiana,

The FAA conducted a noise monitoring program of helicopter operations at the Lakefront Airport in New Orleans, Louisiana. The purpose was to obtain noise measurements from helicopter operations in an urban environment. During this monitoring program the FAA concentrated solely on helicopter approaches to Lakefront Airport. The noise data collected and classified as survey type data, since the monitoring programs measurements data obtained were from target of opportunity as opposed to a controlled test when the helicopter follow predefined flight path profiles. During the testing period, there were ten different helicopter models. Because of the high frequency of operations an opportunity was provided to determine the consistency between ALM values for the same helicopter model for different events. Since some of the monitoring sites were located in a residential community, an opportunity was provided to gather information on noise levels associated with a high frequency of helicopter operations.