Oh Boy... some one is in trouble...

[maelstrom]

Would hitting a bird (a dove for example) with the main rotor, bring a helicopter down?

Possibly. A rotor tip is generally made of lightweight material and it would be badly damaged (probably destroyed) by a bird strike. The resulting vibration would make a forced landing (at the least) highly likely.

 

[Vic Moss]

Multiple posts with pilots getting caught and fined already here. The newspaper incorrectly stated that it was the first one in the US... just anti drone hype.
Try a search of the forum for links to the other articles.

He was the first one charged with a federal crime over something like this.

 

[Cymru]

Would hitting a bird (a dove for example) with the main rotor, bring a helicopter down?

Can't see it bringing it down in an uncontrolled way but i can certainly see it causing enough damage the unbalance and vibration would cause a forced landing and ground the helicopter for a while.

 

[Citizen Flier]

Most of the locations I've been photographing from the ground in my county for years are off limits to drones. I didn't know this when I got my M2P. And I DREAMED of the magnificent aerials I would get. Pretty disappointing! But If episodes like this proliferate & catch media attention, the blowback will likely result in even greater restrictions everywhere. We should all encourage each other and especially new pilots learn how, where & when to fly. And websites like this should make it a priority to get the word out -convincingly. But of course many feel that the cost of their new bird gives them the privilege of flying WHEREVER they want. So that reality will likely remain a factor. Time will tell...

 

[Jeff2020]

Hollywood Man Arrested For Crashing Drone Into LAPD Chopper

Authorities say it's the first criminal case in the nation in which a person has been charged with unsafely operating a drone.

losangeles.cbslocal.com

Ummmm.... a heartfelt "Geez I'm sorry...." ought to do it I think....

 

[dronerdave]

Wonder how it will play out in court? Not sure what type of airspace he was flying in but chasing emergency operations is one of the more ignorant moves one can make. Not sure if he knew he had hit the chopper but if he had known he hit it, not informing the police after the fact might end up burning his tail. Sounds like he admitted to causing the incident. I do blame the FAA for not doing a better job educating the public, but there are a lot of sky poachers who have an entitlement mentality that could care less about rules and just do as they please.

 

[alopeznj]

Yeah hopefully they'll throw the book at him. This is the kind of extremely dangerous behavior that gives law-abiding drone pilots a bad name. Who the heck flies their drone to a crime scene at night and knowing there's a police helicopter en route?!?!

this is why we responsible pilots are paying the price for idiots.

 

[cgmaxed]

Most of the locations I've been photographing from the ground in my county for years are off limits to drones. I didn't know this when I got my M2P. And I DREAMED of the magnificent aerials I would get. Pretty disappointing! But If episodes like this proliferate & catch media attention, the blowback will likely result in even greater restrictions everywhere. We should all encourage each other and especially new pilots learn how, where & when to fly. And websites like this should make it a priority to get the word out -convincingly. But of course many feel that the cost of their new bird gives them the privilege of flying WHEREVER they want. So that reality will likely remain a factor. Time will tell...

Buy Autel EVO2s. They are not restricted. They don't need internet either. If other large manufacturers (DJI) keep restricting them, their will always be hackers to alter the hardware and software. Others will begin building their own drones.

 

[Paul51]

There's a clue here to the dumb drone operator, quote "....in the early hours of the morning ...."

What on earth was he doing flying at that time ????

 

[Ronny St.]

Stupid, stupid. Such idiots indeed spoil the hobby for all of us...

 

[The Kid]

Yeah hopefully they'll throw the book at him. This is the kind of extremely dangerous behavior that gives law-abiding drone pilots a bad name. Who the heck flies their drone to a crime scene at night and knowing there's a police helicopter en route?!?!

I wouldn't be so quick to reply negatively. With the information presented, I would be hard pressed to rule for the prosecution, if I was on a jury. Not enough evidence to show the defendant was flying illegally. If he can even begin to show he was truly trying to leave the area, there would be no valid reason for the charges and the case would be dropped. Of course, we haven't seen all the evidence, so we all will have to wait for the trial. I suspect the charges will be dropped, rather than spend the money on a trial that is of little consequence in the scheme of things. (I seriously doubt a small drone could bring down a helicopter. I have seen rotor strikes on geese that did no damage, and a flying goose is much larger (and heavier) than a hobby drone. In Vietnam, Huey pilots often had to 'chop' their way through trees and high brush in order to land, with little hinderance to flying up and out of the LZ)

Anywho......let's just wait for the trial and see what happens.

 

[hayc59]

there goes flying as we know it...what a shame

 

[Repaid1]

There's a clue here to the dumb drone operator, quote "....in the early hours of the morning ...."

What on earth was he doing flying at that time ????

Because in the US we don't have the same enforcement in place as UK. We have recreational (him) and Commercial ops. If he was flying commercial I suspect he would already be in more trouble with the FAA. As it is now he is not governed by even night flights. He doesn't even need a strobe which is also falsely reported as that is commercial only.

 

[wco81]

Did he fly the drone into the helicopter or did the helicopter run into it?

Seems like it would be hard to fly a drone into the helicopter unless it was just hovering in place. Helicopters flies at much higher speed on average, don't they?

 

[Robert556]

Hollywood Man Arrested For Crashing Drone Into LAPD Chopper

Authorities say it's the first criminal case in the nation in which a person has been charged with unsafely operating a drone.

losangeles.cbslocal.com

it's idiots like that which will ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[dronerdave]

Did he fly the drone into the helicopter or did the helicopter run into it?

Seems like it would be hard to fly a drone into the helicopter unless it was just hovering in place. Helicopters flies at much higher speed on average, don't they?

We don't even know if he was flying VLOS or not. The main thing is he said he was flying towards an emergency operation. Not wise.

 

[Luckygecko]

Would hitting a bird (a dove for example) with the main rotor, bring a helicopter down?

Here is a report from 2018 covering a 3-year lookback of bird strikes on helicopters.

FAA: 665 helicopter bird strikes over the last 3 years

The helicopter industry reported 665 bird strikes in the United States over the last three years, according to figures from the Federal Aviation Administration Strike Database.

verticalmag.com

Out of 665 strikes. The 3 fatalities (one crash) seem to be from cockpit penetration of more than one 4+ pound bird and loss of control. Unknown if from pilot incapacitation or jammed controles. Rotors were intact. Other incidents that had injuries (8) were from cockpit penetrations.

Of the 665, 41 (six percent) produced “substantial damage” — defined as damage to an aircraft’s structural integrity, performance, or flight characteristics, normally requiring major repairs or the replacement of the entire affected component. Only 79 strikes [including that 41] (12 percent) resulted in at least some damage.

 

[GB1Yorkshire1]

As a new drone recreational pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area, low flying helicopters are my biggest worry. I alway check the FlightRadar24 app on my phone before taking off looking for any - especially medical evac flights and law enforcement since both have a tendency to fly lower than corporate/business helicopters in this area.

Also the LA Times is reporting that this guy is being charged with a federal misdemeanor offense that carries a maximum sentence of one year in federal prison.

The fact that he knew he hit the helicopter and didn't go to authorities probably will not sit well with a judge/jury.

I also live in an area that has a lot of helicopters with military, Coastguard, Mosquit Control and private ownership. However as we are not in restricted airspace where I live, I still have to watch out for random flights following the inter coastal waterway that is adjacent to our property. My approach is very simple if I hear a helicopter I drop the height to as low as I can safely go. I haven’t had much success with any application as by the time they appear on the screen in reality they are on top of your position.

 

[colorado kid]

What's a bit confusing to me from the video news story is they seem to be showing two different drones throughout the piece. Did anyone else pick up on that or am I wrong about that?

yes, you are right. they must have only had a photo of him with RC for mavic pro. but, drone that crashed was the phantom.

 

[The-Swede]

Small bags of meat (birds) will do less damage than a drone of equal mass. Most bird strikes are direct into the windshield, which causes huge damage. I believe this is due to the fact that the birds will avoid the high frequency noise from the rotor disk.
I've seen helicopters fly with fairly major damage to the rotor blades (I'm a helicopter mechanic). Taking a windshield out of an aircraft, even the non-flying side (in single pilot config) is a huge distraction, if nothing more for the pilot. If the pilot is hit.......

my 2 cents.