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It is REALLY crazy

Aside for the drone which looks unbelievably stupid does anyone else think the helicopter was dangerously low or looked it?
It's difficult to say because of telephoto lens, but ... YES !
One could argue that it's a "working helicopter" and sometimes you have to bet your life on the engine. Or that it's a public use aircraft and the rules don't apply. I'm guessing 100' AGL and if you were really good, you'd be hard pressed to not bend metal if it burped. Even having recurrent factory training in high altitude hovering auto's under your belt, is risky if you've had an intense flight, and are tired at the end of a shift. They appeared close enough to be taken out with a side arm from the ground. When pigs fly - Wikipedia. Definitely not a very professional pilot. FLIR can effectively reach out to touch someone from 1000' no need to expose yourself like that. I thought the drone pilot was worse than the helicopter pilot operating that close to the helicopter, with the caveat that it's difficult to say because of the telephoto lens.
 
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Aside for the drone which looks unbelievably stupid does anyone else think the helicopter was dangerously low or looked it?

I personally think that they were needlessly low.
 
I agree - hovering at that height was almost certainly more about projection of power than operational need.
A "show of force" would be power braking an MRAP - Wikipedia to smoke it's tires, just like the winner of a NASCAR race. As a retired professional helicopter pilot, I condemn that act; as a dangerous circus stunt.
 
A "show of force" would be power braking an MRAP - Wikipedia to smoke it's tires, just like the winner of a NASCAR race. As a retired professional helicopter pilot, I condemn that act; as a dangerous circus stunt.

Obviously they have SOPs - it would be interesting to know what those have to say about that kind of flying.
 
Obviously they have SOPs - it would be interesting to know what those have to say about that kind of flying.
Looks like police academy graduation is a prerequisite with this department. The "mission" comes first, works better if you're really committed to backing brothers on the street. They can teach you to how to fly, using a really dedicated officer as an instructor. How to hover OGE over a crowd of criminals, could be in the lesson plans. Air Support Division - Los Angeles Police Department Ranking instructors can also teach "professional courtesy" to have a FLIR operator "look away" during the take-down, so that no recording exists.
Unlike other well managed cities, they don't employ non-deputized professional pilots. I'm curious to know if they self insure their fleet or if they report all accidents to the fed's. Could it possible the drone was a department asset, as well as part of a show of force ?
 
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something strange/off about this video: besides the perspective issues (strange point of view for the video capture to occur from) there is no rotor wash movement indicated/reflected from any nearby vegetation or trees, which are clearly below the hover zone of the aircraft. you can see exhaust downdraft around the helo and in the spotlight beam, but no rotor wash impact to any nearby surface, no actions by bystanders or police on the ground indicative of any air movement.
 
The video is strange indeed..video from the drone and video of the drone and none of it very good.
 
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You can also see as the helo went over the drone, the drone crashed into a building but managed to recover.
 
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It's difficult to say because of telephoto lens, but ... YES !
One could argue that it's a "working helicopter" and sometimes you have to bet your life on the engine. Or that it's a public use aircraft and the rules don't apply. I'm guessing 100' AGL and if you were really good, you'd be hard pressed to not bend metal if it burped. Even having recurrent factory training in high altitude hovering auto's under your belt, is risky if you've had an intense flight, and are tired at the end of a shift. They appeared close enough to be taken out with a side arm from the ground. When pigs fly - Wikipedia. Definitely not a very professional pilot. FLIR can effectively reach out to touch someone from 1000' no need to expose yourself like that. I thought the drone pilot was worse than the helicopter pilot operating that close to the helicopter, with the caveat that it's difficult to say because of the telephoto lens.
Amen! As soon as ANY helicopter appeared less than 500' AGL, that dumbass drone pilot should have been dropping to the ground like a stone! Such ******** as these will drive this hobby to oblivion!
 
Surely the drone shouldn't have been in the air near such a situation in the first place, both in terms of being
a) over a crowd of people and
b) near an active 'emergency services' operation.
Is that not the initial 'wrong' under FCC rules.
 
Unless it was a government agency drone being used to film....seems everyone is ignoring that possibility.
 
The fact that he crashed into the building; to me means a complete novice.
 
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