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When you forget about that whole "rotor wash" thing. Oops . . .

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
FAA says no lower than 500’ above populated areas. It does make me wonder if the cops are permitted to fly lower in performance of their duties?

That's not exactly what it says. There's an additional section in 91.119, which seems to be ignored by the Navy. But the caveat that lets helos operate lower was still ignored in this instance.

I believe police helicopters are considered "state" aircraft just like military and therefore can dodge the FAA if their superiors want to protect them.

My (very) limited understanding is that even Local LE can operate under PAO, but I didn't think they have quite the protection the military does. It's something I've been wondering about.
 

Rockriver

Well-Known Member
pilot
FAA says no lower than 500’ above populated areas. It does make me wonder if the cops are permitted to fly lower in performance of their duties?
Yes, in certain situations in certain agencies.

When I flew drug interdiction missions for the aviation program in Customs (then ICE and finally CBP) we had formal exemptions to several FARs. The most frequently used examples were lights-out ops at night and short duration, covert formation flying on suspects.

While I think using rotorwash to herd drunken people around is stupid and potentially dangerous, I have seen aggressive use of UH-60 rotorwash effective in intimidating and slowing down go-fast boats, preventing smugglers from opening doors and exiting parked airplanes, and blowing the occasional prison escapee out of a tree.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
While I think using rotorwash to herd drunken people around is stupid and potentially dangerous, I have seen aggressive use of UH-60 rotorwash effective in intimidating and slowing down go-fast boats

Obviously that must have been a CBP -60 because DoD helicopters NEVER have used rotorwash to slow down go-fasts since it's prohibited in the OPORD.

I can say that while writing a specific AAR for a certain case, the term "Air Shouldering" was used in the message by LEDET.
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
One of my old flight school friends, former helo crewman, never sat in the door of an H-2 while hoisting a SLC over one shoulder as if aiming the tube at a go-fast, which did not aggressively steer away and nearly flip himself.


SLC ("slick") is the plastic tube the sonobuoy comes in:

buoys.jpg

(picture source: wiki)
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
I am pretty sure the pilot would have gotten in even more trouble if he launched sonobuoys at the Penn State crowd.
AIRBOC FTW

Those are the exploding chaff ones. Late one September we shot ten of those things, all at once, so we wouldn't lose the allocation the following year. What a glorious, wasteful, and awesome mess.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
If you shoot them over Michigan, you get a 10¢ deposit back instead of 5¢ for most other states.
Let me guess . . . Jim Harbaugh probably promotes this as a sound investment strategy when he's done extolling the virtues of milk-drinking and chicken-avoiding.
 
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