Activist's Proposal for Copter Routes Assailed Aviation: Officials and pilots criticize Gerald Silver's plan to change paths over his house. He says he made the request as a leader of Stop The Noise!: [Valley Edition]

Gerald Silver, an outspoken activist who has thrust himself repeatedly into public debates on San Fernando Valley issues over the years, is trying to rearrange the routes that helicopters fly, to the annoyance of aviation officials and chopper pilots.

His opponents note that the approved routes Silver wants pilots to abandon are those that pass over Silver's own house leaving and approaching Van Nuys Airport.

"My company and other companies will not be told where we can fly by one man," said Nigel Turner, the president of Heli-L.A., a general helicopter service based at the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for managing air traffic, is equally concerned with Silver's suggestions.

"Those approaches, ingress and egress, are established in conjunction with airport management and the community," said Fred O'Donnell, an FAA spokesman...