The cancellation on October 12 of the three-mile temporary flight restriction (TFR 9841) encircling the World Trade Center, which had closed New York City’s three Manhattan heliports to civil operations for more than four weeks after September 11, buoyed the spirits of the helicopter community represented by the Eastern Region Helicopter Council. But keeping those heliports open remains one of the council’s chief concerns, and in some ways the task has become even more difficult.
“September 11 happened, but the world kept going and we still have to deal with a lot of issues,” said Matt Zuccaro, special advisor to the ERHC board of directors, at the council’s annual meeting. After a month of virtually no civil helicopter operations over Manhattan and anticipated reduced operations after that, he expected renewed activity from anti-helicopter groups. “Flying neighborly is going to be even more of a concern after the airspace opens up again,” he said. “The bad news is that people [in New York City] have not heard a civil helicopter for a month–and the citizens are afraid.”
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