Flight for Life Responds to Noise Complaints

Waukesha Freeman 11/26/2013, Page A06

GUEST OPINION Pardon our noise Flight For Life balancing neighbor concerns with training needs By Jim Singer It has been brought to my attention that several neighbors near the Waukesha County Airport have been asking about an increase in Flight For Life activity in and around the airport during the late evening and nighttime hours. FFL’s mission is “To provide safe, high quality, customer oriented and efficient medical transportation, with a commitment to education.” In our organization, safety is paramount. As we near our 30th anniversary in 2014, over 32,000 patients have been safely transported by our aircraft. Many of those patients flown by Flight For Life have been from the Waukesha County area. In August 2008 – after collaborative meetings with Waukesha County and airport leadership – FFL located its primary base at the Waukesha County Airport. This enabled us to provide a more rapid response to the western agencies we serve. We were also able to significantly augment our culture of safety by adding certain tools and procedures to our daily practice. This includes the use of night vision goggles by crew members during all night operations. Additionally, we have very recently begun the process for our aviation staff to become certified to fly in “instrument flight rule s” conditions. Both of these safety enhancements require increased staff training – while flying in the helicopter – to maintain these proficiencies. The Federal Aviation Administration requires this instruction for both our clinical and aviation personnel. All initial and recurrent night vision goggles training must occur after dark. In order to remain available for patients who need our services, we target the majority of our training to take place during those windows of time when we generally receive fewer requests for patient transports. We have tracked when these “off peak” hours occur, which is during late evening and nighttime. In addition to this increased flying time for our personnel – driven by FAA requirements – one of our pilots was recently promoted to the position of aviation compliance evaluator. His sudden departure necessitated the hiring of a regional relief pilot, who will serve several regional air medical programs including ours. The pilot began his in-flight training (which is also occurring during offpeak hours) last month at our Waukesha base. This training was completed in late October. Flight For Life strives to be a good neighbor to those who live around the Waukesha County Airport. We understand the importance of balancing the need for ongoing training with the increased noise level this causes. With safety as our primary goal, we will continue to work closely with the manager of the Waukesha County Airport, the control tower manager and the Waukesha County Airport Operations Commission. Our purpose is to constantly review all flight training procedures and minimize the impact this may have on the surrounding neighborhood. We welcome feedback and questions from our neighbors and look forward to continuing our relationship with and service to Waukesha County and its residents. (Jim Singer is transport system director for Flight For Life.) Our purpose is to constantly review all flight training procedures and minimize the impact this may have on the surrounding neighborhood. Powered by TECNAVIA Copyright © 2013 Conley Group. All rights reserved 11/26/2013