Flying near hospital with helipad - question

[Rick W]

As a new-bee I applaud your view on safety and your concern for the hospital's helipad. You have won my admiration.

I am also routinely flying about 1/2 mile from a hospital helipad. There are some general behaviors of the in-bound helicopters that can help you to avoid being in their flight path or airspace. Most helicopters will fly at a pretty good altitude (above 500 ft.) in a circle around the helipad to check that it is clear for them to land. You often will hear and see them. Next, their landing flight path will be low and slow and most importantly into the wind. Knowing the direction of the wind at the helipad (a 1/2 mile away) will allow you to know their most probable approach where they will be below 400 ft. The quick test is if you face toward the hospital, if the wind is blowing at you, the helicopters will make their approach directly overhead. This is when you will need to be most concerned and vigilant.

 

[BigAl07]

All medical transport helicopters have ADS-B and will up on FlightRadar24.

I was speaking in general terms about General Aviation aircraft may not be showing up.

Depending on your location in reference to the nearest radar facility or ADS-B ground based Rx it's very possible aircraft under 1000'AGL aren't on the radar.

This was current as of March 2019:
Currently, about 65% of aircraft in Europe are equipped with ADS-B but only 35% in the US.

 

[GregS]

So I am picking up my MM Dec. 19th, am a total and complete newbie who has never flown a drone before, and I’ve been making an effort to educate myself about safe/legal drone flying before the drone even gets here. I have a question about flying near my house. There is a hospital nearby That has a helipad. Now, I am in a “free to fly” zone according to the FAA map that I checked out and also the B4UFLY app which I downloaded. But the hospital is 0.56 miles away from me. The app says “Good to go, no advisories but stay alert.” Am I ok flying here?

I have a very similar situation. Hospital helo pad half mile away. I accept responsibility, stay below 200 feet, and never had a problem. I do not fly in that direction either. Always listening for the sound of those rotors too!

 

[BigAl07]

As a new-bee I applaud your view on safety and your concern for the hospital's helipad. You have won my admiration.

I am also routinely flying about 1/2 mile from a hospital helipad. There are some general behaviors of the in-bound helicopters that can help you to avoid being in their flight path or airspace. Most helicopters will fly at a pretty good altitude (above 500 ft.) in a circle around the helipad to check that it is clear for them to land. You often will hear and see them. Next, their landing flight path will be low and slow and most importantly into the wind. Knowing the direction of the wind at the helipad (a 1/2 mile away) will allow you to know their most probable approach where they will be below 400 ft. The quick test is if you face toward the hospital, if the wind is blowing at you, the helicopters will make their approach directly overhead. This is when you will need to be most concerned and vigilant.

Those are some pretty general assumptions my friend. Under ideal conditions many of your comments "should" be accurate but with a MediVac you can't be sure of any of them.

 

[7of9trek]

You might find that the dji geo zones will stop you from flying at your location

Download the Dji fly app for the Mm. It will let you know for sure. Be sure to have your location access on.. lemme kno

 

[billjohnsonstories]

This is a very helpful thread and I am downloading Flightradar24 right now.

 

[SkyDogII]

just for safety, download the Kittyhawk app and request a LAANCE authorization to fly in that area... it will tell you if its ok or not..

 

[Thomas B]

Those are some pretty general assumptions my friend. Under ideal conditions many of your comments "should" be accurate but with a MediVac you can't be sure of any of them.

Couldn’t agree more. Having flown as doc and as crew on medivac copters, often they come right in, or take low altitude over mountains when ambient temps prevent flying at usual altitudes.

 

[koopyetz]

I was curious about any data delay and received this reply from Faa.
The data stream that we supply to Flightradar is probably SWIM TFMS Class 2 , which has a 5 min delay added to it for security purposes. It may be suitable as an aid to situation awareness, but is not suitable for tactical detection and avoidance of manned traffic. It is also not intended for flight planning

 

[Matriculated01]

As a new-bee I applaud your view on safety and your concern for the hospital's helipad. You have won my admiration.

I am also routinely flying about 1/2 mile from a hospital helipad. There are some general behaviors of the in-bound helicopters that can help you to avoid being in their flight path or airspace. Most helicopters will fly at a pretty good altitude (above 500 ft.) in a circle around the helipad to check that it is clear for them to land. You often will hear and see them. Next, their landing flight path will be low and slow and most importantly into the wind. Knowing the direction of the wind at the helipad (a 1/2 mile away) will allow you to know their most probable approach where they will be below 400 ft. The quick test is if you face toward the hospital, if the wind is blowing at you, the helicopters will make their approach directly overhead. This is when you will need to be most concerned and vigilant.

Thanks Rick, I appreciate that. I definitely don’t want to be one of those people who will contribute to regulators clamping down and destroying the hobby that I am just getting into for myself and everyone else. The intricacies and pretty huge responsibility that come along with operating a drone never even occurred to me before the MM peaked my interest and I decided to get it. But when I decided to buy it I started informing myself, mainly YouTube videos and googling various topics. Learned real quick how things can go south in a split second if a drone is flown irresponsibly. I haven’t even gotten a speeding ticket in almost 10 years and don’t intend to get entangled with law enforcement any time soon, so I’m soaking up every bit of information I can find. Forums like this one are indispensable, there is a huge wealth of experience and information in these pages.

 

[Endeavor]

I live 3 blocks from a Hospital with helipad. It has never shown up any app but several abandoned airports in the area do. That's all I will say about that.

 

[MacCool]

I live 3 blocks from a Hospital with helipad. It has never shown up any app but several abandoned airports in the area do. That's all I will say about that.

I have never had an exclusion issue flying near the local hospital, even taking off and landing directly from the helipad.

 

[CareyL]

As a new-bee I applaud your view on safety and your concern for the hospital's helipad. You have won my admiration.

I am also routinely flying about 1/2 mile from a hospital helipad. There are some general behaviors of the in-bound helicopters that can help you to avoid being in their flight path or airspace. Most helicopters will fly at a pretty good altitude (above 500 ft.) in a circle around the helipad to check that it is clear for them to land. You often will hear and see them. Next, their landing flight path will be low and slow and most importantly into the wind. Knowing the direction of the wind at the helipad (a 1/2 mile away) will allow you to know their most probable approach where they will be below 400 ft. The quick test is if you face toward the hospital, if the wind is blowing at you, the helicopters will make their approach directly overhead. This is when you will need to be most concerned and vigilant.

Canadian law is 1 nautical mile from helipads. I expect most others are the same. This issue is not about hobbyists good intentions or vigilance. It is about societal rights to safety. Is anybody really discussing violating the law and putting first responders lives at risk?

 

[Lapeer20m]

All medical transport helicopters have ADS-B and will always be up on FlightRadar24.

I disagree. Coast guard for sure transports medical patients, and Matrice 210 with built in Adsb receiver does not display warnings from our local coast guard helo.
Also doesn’t display those pesky a-10 warthogs flying out of selfridge.

 

[BigAl07]

...... It is about societal rights to safety. Is anybody really discussing violating the law and putting first responders lives at risk?

Mind boggling isn't it?

 

[Matriculated01]

...This issue is not about hobbyists good intentions or vigilance. It is about societal rights to safety.

With all due respect, that doesn’t make any sense. This is not an either/or proposition - the former is a necessary component in the quest for the latter. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me personally I am doing everything I can to educate myself and stay vigilant precisely because of my concern for the safety of others, i.e. societal rights to safety. I see people having nuanced and detailed discussions, some explaining the convoluted and time consuming steps they’ve undertaken, all because they are indeed trying to be vigilant so as not to break the law or endanger people.

...Is anybody really discussing violating the law and putting first responders lives at risk?

Umm.. that’s what the entire thread is about.

 

[Lapeer20m]

Canadian law is 1 nautical mile from helipads. I expect most others are the same. This issue is not about hobbyists good intentions or vigilance. It is about societal rights to safety. Is anybody really discussing violating the law and putting first responders lives at risk?

USA has no such law.

nobody is encouraging others to put public safety lives at risk.

flying more than 1/2 mile from a seldom or never used helipad and discussing ways to mitigate risk is what this thread is about.

 

[Dopper]

I'm getting 4 fly safe apps.
flysafe coastal
flysafe commercial
flysafe teck
flysafe coverdrone
Which one is the correct one you guys are referring too?

 

[Bob4131]

I'm getting 4 fly safe apps.
flysafe coastal
flysafe commercial
flysafe teck
flysafe coverdrone
Which one is the correct one you guys are referring too?

They were discussing Flightradar24. It shows some of the aircraft in the air. However many low flying aircraft will not show up on this app currently. The best / most important thing currently is to keep your head on a swivel to be aware of aircraft. If you fly in a rural area, you have an advantage because copters are noisy and slower than certain other aircraft ( military comes to mind).

 

[Chas2379]

I don't use that APP so I can't say one way or another.



Flightradar24 only shows a slice of aircraft (currently) in the air. Keep in mind that not all aircraft are broadcasting. It will get better and I definitely like to use it too but use it knowing it is not showing 100% of the aircraft in the air.

After January 1, 2020 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out will be required basically for all aircraft flying in controlled airspace. Hence if they take off or land in controlled airspace they will be required to have it. Flightradar24 gets it's info from ADS-B receivers and broadcast on the internet. In my area the closest Controlled Airport is 10 miles away and there's a dirt glider strip 8 miles away. All helicopters, police, medivac and private show up on Flightradar24. They are flying at an altitude of 1500 ft or above. Altitudes far below 1500 ft would be shown but they are normally above. I often fly at a lake (no internet - no Flightradar24) that has a Sheriff's heliport 500 yards away. I have a contact phone number I clear with.