Helicopter Parked on Haystack

I did an early morning Lafayette/Lincoln Loop today. I did the loop clock wise. Coming down to Haystack there was what appeared to be a private helicopter parked immediately adjacent to Haystack. No one was around. It was 4 seater (Robinson I think) with no official markings and no one around. No trace of any USFS special use permit. It was parked off to the side of the trail corridor. Oddly no attempt to secure it to the ground.

In the past the FS has fined commercial copter owners landing in above treeline areas and did a high profile bust of private helicopter owner during a Climb to the Clouds event once. There had been a charter service that moved into the Conway area one year that was advertising landings on the summits and they were informed that it would required special permitting. Even the AMC has to get special permitting and is limited to operating outside the summer season. I am curious if this was a special use permit or if the pilot decided that it was worth the fine to land. This wasn't a cheap helicopter that probably costs hundreds of dollars an hour so a $100 fine for trampling alpine vegetation is just a drop in the bucket to the owner.

The only other possibility is the pilot had a mechanical issue and had an emergency landing. Whatever the case, it sounded like the helicopter took off while I was hiking down Falling Waters.

Should have had a registration number ("N - number") painted on it somewhere easy to see, and you could google that and probably discover who it was registered to...

If it was an issue of safety of flight, the following would probably apply:

Sec. 91.3 — Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command.

a) The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.

(b) In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.

(c) Each pilot in command who deviates from a rule under paragraph (b) of this section shall, upon the request of the Administrator, send a written report of that deviation to the Administrator.


But if it took off a while later, doesn't seem likely that it would be a flight safety issue...


Thursday, what looked like a JetRanger made multiple trips to drop stuff off at the Lonesome Lake Hut...

TomK

I looked up the tail number (which decidedly didn't have much contrast)

Robinson R44 II It looks like used versions are around $500k

Registrant Name PD AVIATION LLC Street 77 SPUR RD
Registrant City DOVER Registrant State NH
Registrant Zip Code 038209110 Country UNITED STATES
Region New England Registrant Type Corporation
Fract Owner Certificate Issue Date 2015-02-06

"PD Aviation LLC is a small, new airline or airport in Dover, New Hampshire. It opened in 2014 and now has an estimated $74,000 in yearly revenue and approximately 2 employees".

Little more expensive that I thought, here is the regulation

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5275804.pdf

Sometimes you just have to pee...

The black helicopter ? We saw it in Franconia Notch around noon. Flying very low. It appeared to stop at the campground briefly and then fly straight up above Falling Waters. Again, very low.
There were also some very low flying planes through the Notch at about the same time. Glad they didn't bump into each other. If it wasn't training, it wasn't safe.

Chip said:

The black helicopter ? We saw it in Franconia Notch around noon. Flying very low. It appeared to stop at the campground briefly and then fly straight up above Falling Waters. Again, very low.
There were also some very low flying planes through the Notch at about the same time. Glad they didn't bump into each other. If it wasn't training, it wasn't safe.

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Maybe they where doing a northern pass survey or a black fly count? I don't know??

peakbagger said:

Registrant Name PD AVIATION LLC Street 77 SPUR RD
Registrant City DOVER Registrant State NH

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That sounds like the person who was trying to get permission to fly a helicopter out of their backyard on the Bellamy. It was denied.

drewski said:

Maybe they where doing a northern pass survey or a black fly count? I don't know??

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Counting the flies on their windshield, maybe Politician Photo Opp ?

If Guy Waterman who used to maintain that ridge saw that thing land, he would have been throwing rocks at it, lol.

There was ridge runner on the ridge on Saturday. Years ago I took a private pilot course and one of the things they drilled into us was that an emergency landing was something you really wanted avoid as the FAA gets involved (if in doubt when the FAA gets involved its pilot error). I expect that if the NF cares to prosecute, the pilot is going to have to show proof that it was an emergency landing. I guarantee that plenty of folks have pictures of it. I expect that given the crowds on the ridge, that when the helicopter took off that there was some potential for folks getting impacted as it was literally right next to the trail.

peakbagger said:

Coming down to Haystack there was what appeared to be a private helicopter parked immediately adjacent to Haystack. No one was around. It was 4 seater (Robinson I think) with no official markings and no one around.

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What was the tail number?

There is an outfit operating out of Pease in Portsmouth that flies red Robinson R22s and R44s.

They have been a focus of many complaints because of frequent overflights of the city (noise) and also landing at odd places, such as behind Petey's seafood restaurant on Rt 1a (the coast road.)

cb

N277PD is the tail number.

peakbagger said:

View attachment 5629N277PD is the tail number.

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Have you sent that photo to the FS? I saw another one posted on FB.

Yes, I was there as ridge runner. I expect the pilot will be hearing from the USFS and FAA about landing up there.

Thanks Peaks,

Rather then startup a witch hunt on what could be a legit landing, I just posted what I knew and the regulations. I expect a ridgerunners observations and contacts within the FS are going to be a lot more effective than a facebook post. Regulatory bodies really don't deal well if at all by Facebook posts.

One of my first guesses was some politician decided to fly up and shake hands and shoot some video. There was lot of low altitude aviation activity in the notch last Saturday, it was not a particularly peaceful day on the ridge. The bigger issue is setting precedent, if the FS doesn't go after violators it just means that more pilots will be tempted. Its not an appropriate spot to land as the blades were actually over the screed in path. There is generally an enforced safety zone around helicopters and without ground crew present to enforce it, the potential for injuries to people in the area although low are present.

this is not a complaint but I find it interesting to know that you really can't fart around our beloved mountains without everyone knowing it

peakbagger said:

Thanks Peaks,

Rather then startup a witch hunt on what could be a legit landing, I just posted what I knew and the regulations. I expect a ridgerunners observations and contacts within the FS are going to be a lot more effective than a facebook post. Regulatory bodies really don't deal well if at all by Facebook posts.

One of my first guesses was some politician decided to fly up and shake hands and shoot some video. There was lot of low altitude aviation activity in the notch last Saturday, it was not a particularly peaceful day on the ridge. The bigger issue is setting precedent, if the FS doesn't go after violators it just means that more pilots will be tempted. Its not an appropriate spot to land as the blades were actually over the screed in path. There is generally an enforced safety zone around helicopters and without ground crew present to enforce it, the potential for injuries to people in the area although low are present.

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If it was an emergency, the pilot would have been far better off landing on Cannon, the state of NH is so busy trashing it that they wouldn't even notice a helicopter. They would probably go after the photographer for being off the approved trail

Hi

I am friends with the owner/pilot.

He was assisting an injured hiker at the direction of the Forest Service.

So, let's all calm down and thank the guy for helping.

Jim

Seems odd that the ridgerunner didn't know about a helicopter requested to land to provide assistance?

I saw a report of a kid needing assistance on Sunday. Anyone know what happened on Saturday?

Not saying it's not true, just curious.

JimC said:

Hi

I am friends with the owner/pilot.

He was assisting an injured hiker at the direction of the Forest Service.

So, let's all calm down and thank the guy for helping.

Jim

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Pretty cool of the guy to stop and assist. I would think there are some challenges associated with flying those small Robinson helis in the Whites.