Overflying a football field is not illegal even if it is for an entire game provided you stick to the rule of the air.
First - I confess - I'm not a pilot! I have a personal interest in this thread and it has helped many of us to understand a little better what MIGHT have gone wrong at Long Marston which led to the death of a very nice man.
The point which pilots might not appreciate - but which 'that' pilot was VERY aware of - is that most horses are seriously frightened of aircraft of any sort - particularly helicopters and similar craft. It doesn't matter to a horse if its 400 feet above it - or 600 feet - it's a MONSTER! And a terrified horse will bolt, or buck repeatedly while the craft is in its vicinity.
THAT pilot must have known that - he'd been low-flying (400 - 600 - 800 - who knows) for weeks above a number of hunts for the purpose of spying on them. He MUST have seen the reaction of horses to his presence.
I'm fortunate in that my farm is on the Cosford flight path and I get all sorts flying low - choppers, fighters, funny big silent dark things (technical description
) and my horses get used to them PDQ - but visiting horses can go absolutely crazy the first time one flies overhead. Fortunately most of them are going so fast that by the time horse has bucked twice - it's gone! (And with luck. I'm still aboard!) To have a small 'whatever' hovering overhead causes havoc in the hunting field - and IMHO that's its primary purpose.
Whether it was an accident - or murder - time and the courts will decide. But if any of you guys see horses below you when flying, if you can climb a bit it will be much appreciated by folk at risk of landing rather hard!
