Anyone notice the helicopter last night that circled for half an hour or so? My wife said it was around 4am.
What's the deal with that? I would hope that it's illegal to randomly roam above residential areas, especially in the middle of the night.
Pretty routine stuff when police are looking for someone in the area. It can happen any time of day or night.
I heard that - didn't get to sleep again for ages
It usually means a serious crime has been committed in the area.
it's illegal to randomly roam above residential areas, especially in the middle of the night
There's no restriction, assuming that the airspace is uncontrolled, or you have permission to enter it, if it is controlled.
There are some restrictions above residential areas if they're regarded as "congested". Generally, you don't fly below 1,000 feet and you must be able to glide clear (to carry out your forced landing in a field) if you have an engine failure, if flying a single engine aircraft.
Police aircraft are exempted from many [/quote]restrictions.
It would probably have been a police helicopter either looking for someone on the run, or checking for cannabis factories with their heat seeking cameras. It can be disturbing in the middle of the night, but if they are trying to catch the bad guys - its a necessary evil I'm afraid.
I meant to say
1,500 feet.
Why can't I edit my original post?
