Jun. 17—SHALIMAR — Destin City Councilwoman Prebble Ramswell says helicopters providing tour flights and operated by Destin-based Timberview Helicopters Inc. recently passed over her house 11 times in one hour, or about one flyover every five minutes.
Noise generated by the choppers is the top detriment to the quality of life in Destin, says Larry Szczur, one of Ramswell's neighbors.
And according to Chris Hawthorn, manager of Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, air traffic and tour helicopters in particular represent the No. 1 complaint from the park's visitors.
"We get at least a dozen complaints a day from our day visitors and campers about the tour helicopters," Hawthorne said during Tuesday's Okaloosa County Commission meeting.
Like Ramswell, Szczur and Hawthorne, several other residents shared their concerns and frustrations about the choppers with commissioners.
The county staff also talked with the board about problems with Timberview Helicopters, including safety concerns and travel routes. After much discussion, the commission directed the staff to negotiate within 60 days a new and more stringent operating agreement with the company, which operates air tours out of the county-owned Destin Executive Airport and from a nearby private helipad along U.S. Highway 98.
The initial agenda item concerning Timberview Helicopters included a county Airports Department request to terminate the county's existing operating agreement with the company and enter into a new agreement with new minimum standards and airport rules and regulations to address air tour operations.
The department's request to terminate the existing agreement was backed by the county Aviation Board.
County commissioners eventually agreed to let the company and county staff work on a new agreement without automatically ending the existing one.
Before the commission agreed to that action, Timberview Helicopters owner Justin Johnson told the board he was surprised the discussion about his company was even on the agenda. Johnson said he should have been notified by county or Destin officials.
In response to residents complaining at the meeting of tour helicopters flying too low over their homes, Jim Schofield, an attorney for Timberview Helicopters, said the company's aircraft "always flies at permitted altitudes."
He also said the company has no Federal Aviation Administration violations on record and that no FAA complaints are pending.
On June 7, the Destin City Council approved a resolution that "supports and encourages Okaloosa County's efforts to seek changes from the Federal Aviation Administration directing helicopter flight paths away from residential areas and congested beaches within the city of Destin."
Schofield told the commission Tuesday that, "My client is willing to talk about alternative flight paths" but to go forward with the county staff's initial recommendation to terminate the existing agreement would put Timberview Helicopters out of business and put a stop to much tourist-generated revenue for the area.
A few supporters of the company told the commission that Johnson is a generous businessman who often helps various nonprofit groups and gives free flights to people dealing with major challenges.
But they were well outnumbered at the meeting by Destin residents who said they were at wit's end with the company's operations.
Air Force member and Destin resident Justin Hand, for example, said he cannot sit in his yard and relax and cannot sit inside his home and watch TV or make a phone call because of the persistent helicopter noise.
Destin resident Randy Brown said the choppers are "very invasive" and that a noise study should be conducted if the company is allowed to stay in business.
Another city resident said the helicopters fly less than 100 feet above her and her neighbors' homes, someone in the cockpit of one of the choppers took a photo of her while she was sitting in her yard, and that the disturbances from the helicopters is causing her to have PTSD.
Timberview Helicopters has operated air tours in Okaloosa County for more than a decade. In 2014, it began its operations at Destin Executive Airport, and late last year it began additional operations at the private helipad.
Two summers ago, Timberview Helicopters began limiting its tours to eastward routes along the Gulf of Mexico coast, avoiding routes the company had flown along and across the western end of Destin and the Gulf Islands National Seashore near and on neighboring Okaloosa Island. That change apparently was made so the helicopters would avoid flying over the national seashore.
But county and Destin officials in recent months have been receiving an increasing number of complaints from residents about the helicopters, county Airports Director Tracy Stage told commissioners Tuesday.
According to complaints from residents, Timberview's helicopters fly at very low altitudes when traveling to and from the beach areas to the airport and the U.S. 98 pad, almost always below 500 feet and often as low as 200 feet above ground level and as low as 100 feet above buildings, Stage said in a report to the commission.
"These flights have been the cause of a large number of complaints and are highly disruptive to the quiet nature of the residential and recreational areas near the airport and the 98 pad," Stage said. "Low-altitude operations over very congested roadways, densely populated beaches and in close proximity to vessels, structures and parasails also raise a number of safety concerns. Timberview's helicopters are not equipped with flotation devices and fly so low that it may not be possible to land safely on the beach in the event of an engine failure.
"Over the past several months, community concerns and complaints have reached new levels as the number of air tour operations has increased significantly from both the airport and the 98 pad. In May 2020, the DTS ( Destin Executive Airport) tower estimated that Timberview conducted approximately 4,400 operations from DTS."
According to county information, Timberview Helicopters' "history of breaches" with its operating agreement include unapproved use of a fixed-base operator terminal and hangar(s); underpayment of fees; operations occurring beyond permitted hours; maintenance operation violations in privately-owned storage hangars; lack of insurance information for multiple helicopters; and lack of care of the premises at Destin Executive Airport.
Among other items, county officials in the proposed new agreement with Timberview aim to: ensure that air tour operations and facilities are located and designed to assure compatibility with on-airport operations and new flight procedures; require a new letter of agreement between the county, Timberview, Eglin Radar Control and the Destin Executive Airport tower establishing proposed flight routes and altitudes that increase safety and minimize impacts on residents; and provide opportunity for comment from Destin officials and the public on proposed flight routes.
At Tuesday's meeting, Commissioner Mel Ponder, whose district includes Destin, said the FAA "has been unwilling to address concerns" from local residents and officials about Timberview Helicopters.
Still, "I'm open to a new agreement," Ponder said. "I think that's fair."
He told officials from the company to "be mindful that the community is paying a price for your success."
Company officials "want to renegotiate," Schofield said.
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