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No, the black helicopters are nothing to worry about. Really.

May 23rd, 2013 · 12 Comments

This just out from the city’s communications people:

The City of Vancouver wishes to advise residents near the lower Fraser River that on Friday, May 24 there will be several planned and authorized helicopter low altitude fly overs. The flights are all part of two filming projects underway around the city. The pilots are not in distress.

The helicopter will fly at an altitude of approximately 300 feet over the Fraser River, Kent Ave SE and Boundary Road. The flight is planned between 6 p.m. and midnight. If poor weather doesn’t permit the flight, it will take place either Saturday 25 or Sunday 26, again between 6 p.m. and midnight.

On Friday, May 24 a second helicopter will fly at an altitude of approximately 500 feet over the downtown core, Kitsilano and North/South False Creek, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., and again between 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. If the flights must be cancelled due to weather, they will be permitted to try again from Saturday the 25 to Thursday 30, during the same time blocks.

Final approvals from Transport Canada are pending, and dependent on weather and other conditions.

 

Categories: Uncategorized

  • IanS

    A weak cover story, at best.

    No doubt, the helicopters have been commissioned by the pro-bike lane forces, to scout out potential new routes!

    🙂

  • spartikus

    …while simultaneously searching for new locations for urban chicken coops.

    Who says government can’t be cost efficient!

  • Ms Jones

    Two infantile comments in here already #1 & #2.
    I’m out of here.
    Frances, your blog… not a pleasurable read anymore.

  • Agustin

    Well, I, for one, found IanS’ and spartikus’ comments funny!

    Happy weekend, all!

  • gman

    Its a big step up from sticking a GoPro to their heads.

  • Silly Season

    Ummmm.

    You might wanna close your windows.
    Unless you dig opera…

  • brilliant

    I would’ve thought black choppers were the perfect conveyance for Frau Ballem to take to Victoria, complete with Silly Season’s soundtrack. But perhaps a broom would be the better choice.

  • Sam

    These helicopters were just over Vancouver and North Vancouver flying one behind the other. They were smaller helicopters, black, with what looked like “police” on the rear tail. At this time they were above 500ft as far as I saw.

  • Everyman

    @IanS 1
    Allows Frances her flight of whimsy ; )
    I would assume this is for the Godzilla movie which has been filming around the Lower Mainland (largely Steveston) for the last couple of weeks.

  • Chris Keam

    Oh, no, there goes Point Grey Road , Go Go Gregora!

    “Gojira (ゴジラ?) is a portmanteau of the Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ?, “gorilla”), and kujira (鯨（クジラ）?, “whale”), which is fitting because in one planning stage, Godzilla was described as “a cross between a gorilla and a whale”, alluding to his size, power and aquatic origin.”

    http://youtu.be/ln8-Y-fIbqM

    (FYI, You’ll be subjected to an ad off the top and not enough cowbell)

  • Bill Lee

    Hmm.
    And they wanted to put affordable/cheap/less-than-market housing down there?

    Godzilla invades Vancouver’s East Fraserlands
    By Sandra Thomas, Staff writer Vancouver Courier July 2, 2013

    http://www.vancourier.com/news/Godzilla+invades+Vancouver+East+Fraserlands/8607850/story.html
    Story Photos ( 1 )
    A helicopter hovers over the Fraser River June 21 as part of a shoot for the movie Godzilla.
    Photograph by: Denis Laplante , for the Courier

    It wasn’t an oversized lizard keeping residents of the Champlain Heights and River District neighbourhoods awake at night during the last two weeks.
    Instead a film crew shooting a low-flying helicopter at night for the movie Godzilla had East Fraserlands residents calling the city’s 311 line and 911 to complain.
    Champlain Heights resident Denis Laplante wants to know why the City of Vancouver and Transport Canada approved permits to allow the film company to carry out late night, low-level flights in a residential neighbourhood.
    Laplante contacted the Courier after receiving what he thought was an unsatisfactory response from Transport Canada.
    “When I complained to Transport Canada they said I’d need to have the aircraft’s registration number,” he said.
    Transport Canada told him that in order for it to investigate he’d need to provide the “aircraft registration, date, time, location, direction of flight and a description of the aircraft in question, as well as an estimate of its altitude.” Transport Canada also suggested it could be a police helicopter because police are permitted to carry out low-level manoeuvres, but RCMP media spokesperson Sgt. Peter Thiessen told the Courier it was not their helicopter.
    The next time Laplante was awakened by the chopper, at 11:15 and 11:56 p.m. June 21, he headed down to the pier at the south end of Kerr Street and took photographs, one of which he forwarded to the Courier and can be found at vancourier.com. Laplante said the large spotlights trained on the helicopter suggested it was being used for a film shoot.
    Communications officer Sau Sau Liu told the Courier Transport Canada issued a low flight authorization with conditions to Ascent Helicopters for filming over the city between June 17 and June 20 from 9 a.m. and 10:59 p.m. depending on suitable weather conditions. The same company was issued another low flight authorization for a similar operation over the City of Richmond for June 21 and June 22 between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday.
    “Transport Canada only becomes involved when there is a request for a low flight waiver,” Liu told the Courier in an email. “Transport Canada reviews all applications for low flight authorizations to make sure flights are conducted safely for those in the air and on the ground. Local municipalities are aware of helicopter operations prior to the flights occurring. For further information on filming, please contact the municipality.”
    Karyn Magnusson, director of street use for the City of Vancouver, confirmed many residents called 311 to complain about the noise. Some complaints concerned noise as late as 3 a.m.
    Magnusson added city staff immediately contacted the production company, which agreed to notify residents of further disruptions and to keep the noise to approved times. But she noted the city wants to cooperate with film companies due to the employment opportunities they offer. In the case of Godzilla, 2,000 local carpenters were hired to build the massive set, which sits near Boundary Road and East Kent Street.
    “The city wants to support the film industry and bring it back to Vancouver,” said Magnusson. “It results in 18,000 real local jobs. We just need them to be good neighbours.”


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    Read more:

  • Bill Lee

    The Seattle Times
    Local News
    Low-graphic news index

    Saturday, July 13, 2013 – Page updated at 03:30 p.m.

    Army apologizes for helicopters buzzing Port Angeles
    The Associated Press
    The Army says it is responsible for the low-flying military helicopters with spotlights that buzzed around the small town of Port Angeles, Wash., late Thursday night. An Army official is apologizing for the unannounced training mission.

    Dozens of residents called police to ask what was going on. Mayor Cherie Kidd said Friday the choppers, in her words, “terrorized my city.” The mayor says no one had advance warning and city officials spent hours Friday trying to determine where the helicopters came from – or, as she put it, “who had invaded Port Angeles.”

    The Peninsula Daily News reports ( http://is.gd/LDLhv2) that Army Col. H. Charles “Chuck” Hodges Jr. termed the episode “totally unacceptable” and added his apology. In his words, “at the very least we should have notified local authorities of the exercise.”

    Hodges said he has launched an investigation.

    Linkname: Army apologizes for helicopters buzzing Port Angeles | Seattle Times Newspaper
    URL: seattletimes.com/text/2021383860.html