July 24, 2007
SFist Photo: Choppers Under and Over the GG Bridge
Having just flown under the Golden Gate Bridge, this aging Bell JetRanger flies back low over the road bed and then heads east.
WIth the summer tourist season reaching its height, more and more sightseeing chopper flights are buzzing San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Thusly. Is flying under this bridge legal? Apparently so, because it happens so often these days. Looks like fun. So long as you don't lose power and begin a spiraling decent requiring the Coast Guard to rescue you (or you don't hop in a plane with Senator John Kerry), you should be fine. Happy flying!
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When I was in DC last week, a sightseeing helicopter did crash. I think everyone survived, but they also had to be fished out of the water. Methinks there are better ways to see the sights.
Copters should not be flying low over the road bed. Drivers are distracted enough on that stretch, and given the limited space between oncoming lanes, it just takes one twit to start a really serious pile-up.
Being a fixed-wing private pilot, I am prohibited from doing this - coming within 500 feet of a structure.
Copters have a different rule but they still need to be operated "without hazard", a deliberately vague standard.
I thought there were guys with guns and shoot-down orders protecting the bridge from Evil(TM)? Or did they get shipped off to Iraq too?
I don't know if it's more hazardous driving around here with choppers buzzing you or driving in L.A. when Lindsay Lohan is out of rehab.
Lindsay Lohan! Topical!
Are those small helicopters as dangerous as military helicopters? It seems like Apaches and Blackhawks and whatever are always crashing.
I agree, though, #2: that's pretty stupid and reckless.