TV 'octocopters' wear on neighbors' nerves

LA HABRE, Calif., March 26 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration says it can't do much to stop the noise from news helicopters hovering over the "Octomom" home in Southern California.

The FAA told The Orange County Register that helicopters are pretty much free to fly wherever they want as long as they do so safely.

"An operation could be perfectly safe and perfectly annoying at the same time," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told the Register.

That's little comfort to folks in the La Habre, Calif., neighborhood where Nadya Suleman and her brood live in the constant glare of the paparazzi as well as the Los Angeles news media and its fleet of choppers.

The Register said Thursday that the city has contacted its congressional representative, U.S. Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., but otherwise is stymied.

Representatives of Los Angeles television stations said they try to keep their aircraft at high altitudes to minimize the noise as they stay overhead for several minutes at a time.