Archive: Noisy Cape Town Helicopters

Original Article: http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/noisy-helicopters-leave-residents-outraged-264583

Excerpt from an article published on 2006, this is a long ongoing issue in Cape Town.

Outraged residents and the Table Mountain National Park have had enough of noisy helicopters which they said were flying "irresponsibly" low over protected areas and Cape Town suburbs.

Fiona Kalk, park spokesperson, said: "Under the Protected Areas Act, all aircraft must be 1 500ft above the highest point of the park. In the park that is McClear's Beacon on top of Table Mountain."

Although helicopter companies insist they do keep to this regulated height, Kalk said, helicopters in fact do not abide by this regulation.

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Birds and Helicopter Noise

Interesting Reading - a study done on the effects of Helicopter noise on the endangered Birds of Dassen Island. One of the best-studied groups of birds for the impact of aircraft is penguins. Some species of penguins are prone to panic responses to helicopters (e.g. Wilson et al. 1991, Cooper et al. 1994, Giese & Riddle 1999), occasionally with catastrophic results (Rounsevell & Binns 1991). Most catastrophic events happen among dense groups of penguins, where even one bird panicking can set off a chain reaction throughout the group. Source: http://adu.org.za/pdf/Nansikombi_Juliet_2004_MSc_CB_thesis.pdf Image source: Wikipedia - Michael John Nicoll - Nicoll, M. J. (1908) Three Voyages of a Naturalist : Being an Account of Many Little-Known Islands in Three Oceans Visited by the 'Valhalla' R. Y, S., London : Whitherby & Co.

Video - LOW FLYING HELICOPTERS OVER CAPE TOWN SUBURBS

A video from a Claremont resident On Friday, 24 th February 2017, between 08H55 and 09H55, helicopters were flying low over the houses in Claremont. Footage of one of the helicopters shows how low this helicopter was flying against a backdrop of trees and the mountain. Despite numerous complaints to the Waterfront, City of Cape Town (Noise Control) and Operators themselves, helicopters continue to operate with no consideration of his residence below.

How Noise effects your health

One only has to drive on Cape Town's roads or watch someone freak out in a queue to see how incredibly stressed out most people are these days. Tempers are short and people have little patience. The smallest challenge or delay triggers them, resulting in an explosion of emotion that is totally out of proportion to what is happening. Stress is a very big part of everyone's life. Noise contributes to this significantly - it might even be unconscious and it's only when you go somewhere quiet that you realize just how much you needed the peace. Your body relaxes and you literally feel like the stress is draining out of you - you are less jumpy, your temper isn't as sort and you actually get a good nights sleep. For you, it might be your neighbors barking dogs or the guy who revs his motorbike engine incessantly. Others may struggle with the ongoing building sites around Cape Town and the noise this generates. The really unlucky might have neighbors...

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