CHICAGO PLAN COMMISSION
20 MARCH 2014
TESTIMONY BY HENRY H. PERRITT, JR.
My name is Henry Perritt. I am a law professor and former dean at Chicago-Kent College of Law, the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology. I have a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from MIT. Earlier in my career I worked as an applications engineer for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. I am a helicopter and airplane pilot. I have written a number of books and several dozen law review articles on law and technology.
I support the proposal by Chicago Helicopter Express (“CHE”) to build a heliport. I'd like to make four brief points.
First, the area is well-suited for the proposed heliport. It is industrial, remote from housing, and dilapidated. The heliport will bring jobs and could be the anchor for desirable economic development. Trevor Heffernan, the CEO of CHE, and I have discussed establishing ties between the heliport and community colleges to establish aviation career tracks.
Second, the heliport plan will minimize noise and ensure safety with operating corridors only over the Stevenson Expressway to and from the lakeshore. The plans for this facility are a detailed and complete with respect to safety, noise management, and operating corridors.The management of CHE has a consistent track record as one of the most successful and community-sensitive tour operators in the Midwest.
Third, the helicopters CHE intends to use at the heliport have a good safety record for this kind of operation. A 2011 report by the U.S. Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis Team shows that air tours and sightseeing operations--the dominant activity at the proposed heliport--have a significantly lower accident rate than emergency medical services and general commercial operations
Fourth, Chicago needs facilities for helicopter operations near downtown. The rides and tours segment of the market is important to Chicago's future as a lure for tourists. Yet the Vertiportapparently intends to exclude such operators. Mr. Heffernan's operation is real and ready to go. The Vertiport keeps pushing back plans for breaking ground on its site, and has not yet announced any operators who actually will use the facility.
If you withhold approval from the CHE plan, Chicago well maybe left with only an anticompetitive fantasy in the Illinois Medical District and no operational heliport.