Hear hear John,
I fly in AUS and we were trained properly to do "off airfield" landings and takeoffs in helicopters...isn't that what they were meant for ?
If we couldn't do that, then NO LICENCE !
I have just landed after taking some mates for lunch (off field landing x 3) and even my helipad is an off field landing (x4), with buildings, power lines, trees etc. Nice weather here too, lovely day.
Fair dinkum (look it up) off field landings are what it's all about.
The guy hit power lines, that can happen at "on field" landings in AUS ! Power lines run around airports too !
What a load of rubbish.
Thanks John for bringing some sense to the conversation.
Arrrj