This is the flight path for N638MF, an AgustaWestland AW139, a luxury aircraft registered to ROP Aviation Inc., which is the private aviation company of billionaire investor Ronald Perelman.
The helicopter serves as a private shuttle service for executives flying from Manhattan to the Hamptons. The reason the helicopter is circling directly south of my neighborhood is because it was being held in a temporary holding pattern by air traffic control while waiting for airspace to clear around the Hamptons. There is such a ridiculous amount of air traffic over Long Island, especially on the weekends, that aircraft often have to fly such holding patterns or loops in order to avoid collisions. The whole situation sounds really dangerous to me.
Because of all the commuters flying to and from the Hamptons, the helicopters are often held up miles away from their destinations to prevent dangerous traffic congestion. In turn, that affects us peons who live along the South Shore who never asked for any of this and don’t benefit from any of this but get all the pollution from these aircraft dumped on our neighborhoods.
People in the Hamptons have effectively lobbied to restrict the very helicopter noise and flight paths that they generate from impacting their own estates, while pushing the impacts onto the poorer areas of Long Island, even though the people in the Hamptons are the source of the air and noise pollution.
Helicopters like the AgustaWestland burn lots of jet fuel and contribute a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Their exhaust and fine particulate matter settle directly into the air around us. Their noise pollution has been linked to increased stress, heart disease, and sleep disruption for residents.