A BEACONSFIELD resident has blamed a collapsed ceiling on low-flying helicopters he says have blighted the suburb for two years.
Gibson Street’s Richard Bombara said the helicopters are almost a daily visitor, circling and hovering directly above his house. He says the blue helicopters can appear at any time of the day or night, and the vibrations and air pressure cause the tiles on his roof to rattle.
Recently the situation escalated when part of his ceiling collapsed.
He said he heard a cracking noise and tiles rattling coming from the kitchen one night following a helicopter fly-over and when he walked in the ceiling had collapsed.
Mr Bombara says due to cost of living pressures, he’d let his insurance lapse and had to fork out $6000 on repairs.
“I rung the Fremantle council and they said they didn’t know anything about it, there’s nothing they can do,” Mr Bombara said.
“They’re not interested.
“All they’re good at is collecting rates each year and raising the rates.”
“I really worry myself here about the people who have this same damage done,” Mr Bombara said.
Neighbour Anna Agnello also suffered a ceiling collapse around the same time, but when the Chook caught up with her she thought it was most likely just a coincidence.
“Our ceilings were not the same as what they are now, because at the back they were done with straw, which might need replacing every now and then, so it could be that,” Ms Agnello said.
But she agrees there been a lot of night-time helicopter activity which she thought probably police responding to disturbances in the almost-empty Beacy Bronx nearby.
Ms Agnello says she notices the light from the aircraft, but hasn’t heard her roof rattling or her house shaking.
Another Beaconsfield resident Irene Wilson said the helicopters turned her TV to static, something Mr Bombara also noticed.
Nearby Fremantle Golf Course is one of the main departure routes for aircraft from Jandakot Airport, and according the Airservices Australia is also an established tourist route for planes and choppers heading to Rottnest Island.
They have to maintain a slightly lower altitude of 1000 metres to allow incoming flights to pass over them, before being able to climb to 1500 metres towards the island.
by LILY KETTLE and STEVE GRANT