Interesting info
wrench posted.
The cloud ceiling, or the height above the ground to the lowest layer of clouds, was 900 feet, according to National Weather Service readings from the airport.
For most of the roughly 12 minutes of the flight tracked by Flightaware, the helicopter did not show any major, sudden changes in speed or altitude. At the lowest tracked point, it was still roughly 300 feet up — well above the treeline.
But the changes became much more abrupt just after 2:35 a.m. Over the next two minutes, the speed dropped from 84 mph to 56 mph in 16 seconds; rose from 67 mph mph to 98 mph in 20 seconds; and soared from 40 mph to 102 mph in 17 seconds.
Over that same two minutes, the aircraft swiftly gained altitude, going from about 400 feet to 1,300 feet up. That's when the data stops.
At the end of the flight, the helicopter also rapidly changed directions; it was headed west, south, east and north all within the last few minutes, the data says.