BUT there are helicopters around which go leagaly low and donīt have the time to do a recce first.
Take police, rescue or ambulance flights, underway day and night and very low in bad conditions.
In that case, the decision would perhaps have been the right one to make at the time.
but it wasn't - it was a pilot breaking the law being a hoon and having fun. Albeit shortlived.
Lest we should all learn from this - if we haven't already.