Flights Increases When Bell Consolidated Training Operations In 2015

When Bell Helicopter consolidated its training operations at its headquarters in Fort Worth, TX, residents began to complain about the amount of noise generated by the aircraft flying over their homes on a regular basis. At first, the training flights went from the facility to a training area north of the Texas Motor Speedway. But when residents in that area complained about the frequency of the flights, Bell split the sorties and sent about half into a different area. That, however, resulted in complaints coming in from residents living there.

Now, a group is organizing against the helicopter noise, and television station KTVT reports that yard signs are popping up in the affected areas telling Bell to "Stop the Noise".

Many of those who are complaining are retired, work from home, or stay home with kids, according to the report. Bell has logged nearly 2,500 complaints since the consolidation in 2015 through the month of February this year. 

Bell has tried to work with residents and the FAA to find different places for training flights, according to the report, but the complex traffic patterns around Dallas/Fort Worth make that difficult. Currently, Bell is sending louder aircraft to airports to Arlington and Fort Worth Meacham airports when air traffic allows, and night flights are conducted over Interstate 35 with the approval of the Alliance Tower, according to the report.

Bell emailed a statement to the television station last week stating: “We are sensitive to the noise impact of our flight training operations and have tried to balance this concern while maintaining safe operations to and from our north training field.”

It also reiterated that it is trying to work out a permanent solution to the problem.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report