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

[MROJAS]

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.

It's more than likely a drone would be spit away before reaching the helicopter due to rotor wash because of it's low mass

 

[karlblessing]

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.

Nice, didn't know about that app site... it's also funny seeing the flight path of some of the smaller planes in the area.



If the app also tracks helicopters (would it track Police helicopters and other official real time deployment as opposed to scheduled?), then yea... he could have avoided that on top of having some spatial awareness. (plus trying to fly off to check out an emergency/crime is pretty dumb to begin with).

 

[karlblessing]

i HAD A NEIGHBOR COMPLAIN ABOUT ME FLYING MY DRONE AT NIGHT AND A POLICE HELICOPTER ARRIVED ON SCENE. I was FAA registered recreational and flying with anti-collision lighting. Once I heard the helicopter, I dropped my altitude to just above the tree line , about 70 ft. The helicopter, kept following me , so I kept moving away from it. I didn't realize they were trying to catch me or find me. I thought they were looking for a robber or drug dealer or something. I followed the FAA rule to stay away from manned aircraft, thus I was safe, no laws broken. They ended up just looking at my registration and FAA card. I also had several printed copies of the FAA websites laws, rules and statutes. The police left without incident. I didn't even get a warning. They sure did waist a lot of money though. Sending a police helicopter to track down a drone. They were being reckless, if you ask me. They also probably spent 20,000 dollars of tax payer money flying a chopper with fuel costs , maintenance and pilot fees. They had no clue what the FAA drone laws were. I actually had to spend my time educating the police department. No charges were filed. They were just being a bit overzealous.

Sounds like harassments. Even though a manned aircraft has right of way, that seems like it was unwarranted especially since they have no jurisdiction on the airspace if there wasn't a crime in progress (ie: harassments, peeping in someone's windows, violating restricted airspace, yada yada).

I wonder if anyone has ever filed an FAA complaint against the local police.

 

[DanMan32]

Could be the LEO chopper was already in the neighborhood so was asked to fly by you to investigate the complaint.

 

[Jeff2020]

Really interesting stories..... and each one is different and unique. After hearing so many on this forum and numerous public and LEO "confrontations", I've concluded that as remote pilots this sort of thing is bound to happen. We will always be in a position to educate. It might actually make sense to get out in front of the issue by contacting local LEO (community/sheriff) and offering to provide an overview along with some of the key FAA regulations we operate under.... Just an idea and one I believe I will initiate in my usual flying areas....

 

[cgmaxed]

Overzealous, certainly, but as you note also somewhat reckless. Your neighbour complains about you flying a drone, so they dispatch a *helicopter* to the scene? And here I was thinking one of the primary rules of flying was to try and avoid creating situations where aircraft might come into conflict... Sure, send a *car* if they've not got anything better to do, which I'm assuming they must have done as well since it's unlikely that they would have landed in the street to check your ID, etc., but putting a helicopter on the scene just increases the chance of something going wrong, especially at night.

Frankly, if that had been me, I'd have raised the matter with the FAA (or CAA here in the UK) the following morning as a potential incident and let them educate your local PD if they deemed it necessary. If nothing else, it would be really interesting to see how they might have apportioned blame should an incident have occurred in a situation like that.

You are correct about flight paths. Flight plans are made for a reason.

I was just saying that for preservation of life, pilots would tend to avoid a strobe of any type.

I am not saying any of what that guy did is the right thing to do, I'm just saying that strobes have their place. A pilot, although they wouldn't necessarily want to, would avoid a midair strobe. If the pilot thinks to themselves, "what's that thing blinking?", I highly doubt they would fly closer to find out.

Not trying to start "sheet"... Having a great Sunday, hope you are too. I'm just posting from the point of, strobes are not pointless. (Not that you said they were either)

There are a few radio towers near my house. My strobes look similar to the towers light brightness at 2 and even 3 miles away. If I'm hovering with 4 firehouse xl strobes (1000 lumens each) I would think they would avoid me at 2 miles just as they would the radio towers. By the way, I don't think police helicopters and emergency choppers file flight paths. They fly, change direction and altitude where and when needed.

 

[cgmaxed]

Overzealous, certainly, but as you note also somewhat reckless. Your neighbour complains about you flying a drone, so they dispatch a *helicopter* to the scene? And here I was thinking one of the primary rules of flying was to try and avoid creating situations where aircraft might come into conflict... Sure, send a *car* if they've not got anything better to do, which I'm assuming they must have done as well since it's unlikely that they would have landed in the street to check your ID, etc., but putting a helicopter on the scene just increases the chance of something going wrong, especially at night.

Frankly, if that had been me, I'd have raised the matter with the FAA (or CAA here in the UK) the following morning as a potential incident and let them educate your local PD if they deemed it necessary. If nothing else, it would be really interesting to see how they might have apportioned blame should an incident have occurred in a situation like that.

They took pics of all statutes I had printed. They haven't bothered me since. I fly almost every night. I'm addicted. Now, I sometimes put a 3000 lumen spotlight on my Mavic 2 pro. See pics.