So what are the rules for helo landings?

I've landed a helicopter in front of a Port Huron restaurant for lunch with no problems. Also landed at my friends warehouse in Wyandotte to pick him up.

The pertinent ordinaces are local and vary from community to community. In both of these we called the local police and the owner of the property for permission.

Some places it's easy in others it's impossible to get permission.

Joe
 
I'd add to what Joe said. It varies from state to state. In NJ you need at least a papal blessing to land at anything other than an airport or an approved helipad. PA, if there is no local ordinance, all you need is the landowner's permission.

I disagree with Joe about asking the police fror permission. They really can't give it, and are likely to say no. The right question to ask them is whether there are any ordinances forbidding a landing. If no (and it's not NJ) you're good to go.
 
really the rules are the same for all aircraft. in powered flying, landing off airport in a non emergency setting is so rare that no one thinks it is allowable. of course in my glider i never get permission. there was a great episode of teh Airspeed podcast where he took a balloon ride and the aeronaut (balloonish for 'pilot') asked a guy standing outside if he could land in the pasture next to his house. at least he asked!
 
Beyond the local restrictions, here's a case which gives an idea of the FAA's and NTSB's thinking on the subject. Sounds like you'd better be sure that there is an adequate clear space to land where there is no likelihood of rotor blast damage to anything nearby, and you have folks on the ground to control onlookers and keep them off your landing zone during landing, shutdown, startup, and takeoff, as well as good options for an engine failure on departure.

NTSB Order No. EA-4319 said:
The FAA's investigating inspector (Wendel Meier), himself an experienced helicopter pilot, testified that respondent's operation into the parking lot was hazardous for several reasons. He noted there was no crowd control, and that -- despite respondent's claim (not substantiated by the Administrator's eyewitnesses) that his passenger disembarked immediately upon landing to keep onlookers from approaching -- there was nothing to prevent people from approaching the helicopter as it landed, and being injured by the rotors or the down-wash. He also cited the lack of suitable landing spots in the event of an engine failure upon approaching the parking lot.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
RotaryWingBob said:
I disagree with Joe about asking the police fror permission. They really can't give it, and are likely to say no. The right question to ask them is whether there are any ordinances forbidding a landing. If no (and it's not NJ) you're good to go.
Click to expand...
Bob's right, my wording was imprecise.

Joe
 
There was a story last year in LA where a helo pilot landed in the street in front of some rock star's house to take him to a concert. I can only recall his actions made him subject to both local and federal sanctions.

There's a local Atlanta land developer who had received county permission and a permit to pour a helipad. Apparently, he had landed on his own property numerous times. But, when he started to install the pad a nearby resident threw a fit and got the county to revoke the permit. :rolleyes:
 
The arguments are partly bogus (of course, the FAA is allowed to be bogus). I do agree that a commercial parking lot is a poor choice, and shows poor judgment. The engine failure argument is the bogus part because it's no different than at airports (and helipads) -- there's no way in a normal pattern that you're going to be able to autorotate to either a runway or taxiway.

On the other hand, a local pilot here landed one time at the Modena VOR. The cops showed up and tried to bust him. He gave them the number of the Philly FSDO who said that landing at a government-owned VOR didn't violate any regs.
 
Ron Levy said:
Beyond the local restrictions, here's a case which gives an idea of the FAA's and NTSB's thinking on the subject. Sounds like you'd better be sure that there is an adequate clear space to land where there is no likelihood of rotor blast damage to anything nearby, and you have folks on the ground to control onlookers and keep them off your landing zone during landing, shutdown, startup, and takeoff, as well as good options for an engine failure on departure.

​
Click to expand...
I'm not arguing with you Ron, but I do note that with the exception of crowd control, the West 30th Street Heliport in NYC violates (IMO) all of the other factors you cite. :eek:

-Skip

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...74.006647&spn=0.000837,0.001781&t=k&z=19&om=1
 
KennyFlys said:
There was a story last year in LA where a helo pilot landed in the street in front of some rock star's house to take him to a concert. I can only recall his actions made him subject to both local and federal sanctions.

There's a local Atlanta land developer who had received county permission and a permit to pour a helipad. Apparently, he had landed on his own property numerous times. But, when he started to install the pad a nearby resident threw a fit and got the county to revoke the permit. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

And this was out "in the country" not in some neighborhood. To me that is going a bit too far when the government can dictate the mode of transportation you can use to get to your property.
 
Back when I was a TV photog we were on a story in the station's Bell 206B in rural Iowa. We had a bit of time between shows (live shots) and we had already done all the shooting to tape we needed for the story, and the nearest airport was a ways away, so our only options were fly aimlessly for an hour or set down in the field across the street from the country diner we were over top of and grab a bite. Guess which one we did.

Here's another veteran helo pilot who made the same choice: http://pitchpull.blogspot.com/2007/01/making-grand-entrance.html#links
 
I used to ride with Ft Worth's Helicopter years ago. We'd land behind the Wataburger off I-35 and Sycamore School Road for lunch all the time (way back when all that area was mostly fields). They never had a problem until one of the homeowners two streets down started to complain about the noise. City tried to claim the pilot was violating FAA regs by doing that, until he pointed out that he had the permission from the land owner... the lot was owned by the City at the time, and he was allowed to land on city property by dept. policy. The policy got changed soon after that though. Dang spoil sports.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top