Altitude of metro area chopper traffic ?

[swb_mct]

I live about 10 miles from the Minneapolis airport. I regularly see helicopters flying at low altitudes. I can't always tell if they are from the local TV stations, medical, private, law enforcement or what. We were flooded with Apache helicopters during the last Super Bowl and they were very low 10 miles from the stadium.

Its hard to estimate the altitude but yesterday when I was in open area a chopper flew by and it seemed possible it was below the 1600 foot programmed limit on the Mavic Pro. Obviously its illegal to fly a drone at 1600 feet in our area, but I assume some careless drone owners do it.

Is their any norm for chopper altitude when traveling from point A to B around a metro area ?

 

[black_magic100]

I live about 10 miles from the Minneapolis airport. I regularly see helicopters flying at low altitudes. I can't always tell if they are from the local TV stations, medical, private, law enforcement or what. We were flooded with Apache helicopters during the last Super Bowl and they were very low 10 miles from the stadium.

Its hard to estimate the altitude but yesterday when I was in open area a chopper flew by and it seemed possible it was below the 1600 foot programmed limit on the Mavic Pro. Obviously its illegal to fly a drone at 1600 feet in our area, but I assume some careless drone owners do it.

Is their any norm for chopper altitude when traveling from point A to B around a metro area ?

Your question isn't very clear. Different helicopters probably have different altitudes that they fly at. I would only assume that there isn't really a norm and even if there was why would it matter if you are saying they are 1600 feet up. That's not really low.

 

[swb_mct]

I don't know if their are FFA guidelines or other rules for helicopter traffic in Class A & B airspace. So I was asking if would be common for Helicopters to be as low as the Mavic Pro's 1640 foot limit above takeoff . . this would matter when Mavic owners chose to ignore FAA rules.

 

[lrsn]

My preferred altitude if I was following a freeway was always 300' AGL. It keeps me below fixed wing aircraft and is a comfortable altitude to autorotate from in case of emergencies. I've crossed Canada, the USA from Coast to Coast, and down through Central America and the upper parts of South America at 300' AGL in rotary wing. Now that I'm retired I don't fly daily anymore except with my drones. With fixed wing I usually get as high and as fast as possible.

 

[swb_mct]

My preferred altitude if I was following a freeway was always 300' AGL. It keeps me below fixed wing aircraft and is a comfortable altitude to autorotate from in case of emergencies. I've crossed Canada, the USA from Coast to Coast, and down through Central America and the upper parts of South America at 300' AGL in rotary wing. Now that I'm retired I don't fly daily anymore except with my drones. With fixed wing I usually get as high and as fast as possible.

Thank You for your reply. From what you explained about your experience with low AGL in your helicopter flights, thoughtless drone pilots could be a collision risk for helicopters. Could you elaborate a little on FAA governance of Helicopter traffic.

 

[microlinux]

So I was asking if would be common for Helicopters to be as low as the Mavic Pro's 1640 foot limit above takeoff . . this would matter when Mavic owners chose to ignore FAA rules.

Extremely common. Further, the "normal" minimum height regulations for manned aircraft generally don't apply to helicopters in the US.

Helicopters represent the most likely manned aircraft danger for most drone flights.

 

[Mossiback]

It is not uncommon that helicopters fly below 400' (US). Ever more reason to keep your craft in sight.

 

[SunnyD]

I was filming my kids playing basketball at a birthday party, went up to 400' (the rule limit) and all of a sudden a police helicopter flew in and actually went UNDER my drone! the area had many tall trees, so even though I could see my drone, I couldn't see where the chopper was coming from. I tried to descend as quickly as possible (assuming he would be higher than me!). once it got close, it completely knocked out my controls and screen.
I rebooted the app and controller, never reconnected. I assumed my battery would die and I would hear a crash. the controller eventually did reconnect, and I was able to bring it down safely. screen never came back. it was a great day to be flying straight up within VLOS!
let's hope that doesn't happen again.

 

[Taylor1430]

In a previous life, I worked as a traffic reporter in mid-Atlantic area (those guys you hear on the radio giving traffic reports from the air). We were in a fixed wing (Cessna172) and most of our flight was at 1400ft with the exception of takeoff/landing or if we had to change altitude for other reasons. I believe the helicopters in our network maintained similar height.

 

[Mossiback]

As spring turns into summer, be on the alert for crop dusters in rural areas.

 

[tcope]

I don't know if their are FFA guidelines or other rules for helicopter traffic in Class A & B airspace. So I was asking if would be common for Helicopters to be as low as the Mavic Pro's 1640 foot limit above takeoff . . this would matter when Mavic owners chose to ignore FAA rules.

Not that I'm aware of... but it does not really matter.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Right from the FAA:
·91.119 Minimum safe altitudes; general Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes; (a) ·Anywhere. ·An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface. (b) ·Over congested areas. ·Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2.000 feet of the aircraft. (c) ·Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In that case, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

(d) ·Helicopters. ·Helicopters may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed In paragraph (b) or (c) of this section if the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface. In addition, each person operating a helicopter shall comply with routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the Administrator. ·Helicopter operations may be conducted below the minimum altitudes set for fixed-wing aircraft. The reason? The helicopter's unique operating characteristics, the most important of which is its ability to execute pinpoint emergency landings during power failure. Further, the helicopter's increased use by law enforcement and emergency medical service agencies requires added flexibility in the application of many FAA provisions.

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So be careful out there!