Some people living in Tarrant County are fed up with their new neighbors -- a Bell Helicopter training airfield that opened in Hurst back in July.
The Floyd Carlson Airfield is located in the unincorporated area at Trinity Boulevard and Greenbelt Road.
But people living near the new airfield tell NBC 5 they are frustrated with all of the noise from the helicopters.
The new airfield site was chosen to minimize direct overflights of surrounding communities, according to Bell Helicopter.
Neighbors say even though the helicopters are not flying directly overhead, the company has done little to keep the noise down, at what seems like all times of the day.
The helicopters were out during our interviews with homeowners.
Hurst homeowner Lenny Uhernik says he feels like he unknowingly moved next door to an army base.
Helicopters are in the air at random, unpredictable times of the day and he says he can hear everything from inside his home.
Uhernik showed us one of several videos he has taken of the choppers right from his backyard in Hurst. He says at some points of the day, there are up to five helicopters in the air doing training exercises near his home.
“I've talked to Bell several times and it seems like every call is temporary. They may stop for the rest of the afternoon, but the whole thing starts all over again the next day,” Uhernik said. “The only thing that has changed really is they're not going directly over the houses any longer.”
"As soon as you leave, we'll get a real good parade,” said Hurst homeowner Mark Segee. “There will be three or four helicopters in a circle, around and around."
"It's pretty bad,” Uhernik said. “If they stayed south of the TRE rail, train, which that's been here since I moved here, it blows its horn every once in a while, it's not bothersome, you know what it is and it's only maybe once or twice in a hour, you know. But this is unpredictable, it's random and you never know. You can be ready to read a book or ready to do something and you want peace and quiet. You don't get to have it anymore."
A Bell Helicopter spokesperson told NBC 5 via email: "We're actively working with the surrounding HOA communities to discuss our operations and training requirements for our customers.
We always strive to be a good neighbor to our surrounding communities, as well as provide superior training to our local and international customers from our highly experienced pilots and instructors."
Uhernik says there is a meeting scheduled with Bell Helicopter representatives and Uhernik’s HOA in the coming days. But no word on when that will be.
You may remember a similar issue in Keller before the new airfield was built near Hurst. Bell Helicopter created a website for neighbors to submit comments or questions. Just scroll down to the “Community Feedback” section.
