Military helicopters in Hamilton

Residents in downtown Hamilton had front row seats to a military helicopter operation that left some in awe and others covering their ears.

Helicopters from 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron began urban night flying training in the city Tuesday night, which left a number of residents upset because of the noise. The exercise is meant to help pilots familiarzie themselves with the challenges of flying in an urban environment at night.

Ward 2 city councillor Jason Farr says he received a lot of calls about the noise from concerned residents. He says he called Hamilton Police Chief, Glenn De Caire, to ask operations scheduled for Wednesday night be cancelled. Hamilton Police later sent out a news release saying it does not have the authority to suspend military operations or exercises.

Farr says he’s upset with the lack of notification from the military about the training exercise. He says he only had a matter of hours to try to notify his constituents about the operation.

The helicopters are practicing in the vicinity of Stelco Tower in downtown Hamilton. They approach the building at a low altitude from a variety of directions, and hover over the building for a brief period of time before repeating the exercise.

427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron is an Air Force tactical helicopter squadron that deals in counter-terrorism and is under the command of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.