Another low flying fairground incident.
 

Surely not a Robinson still doing tour flights at 11.00pm.......LIVINGSTON PARISH- Residents in Livingston Parish expressed concern late Tuesday night when they reportedly spotted a helicopter flying so low they were sure it was on its way to crashing.

The calls to emergency personnel came in around 11 p.m., some saying they'd seen the helicopter flying extremely low near the Parish fairgrounds, which are off Florida Boulevard near North Range Road.

Some told first responders they also heard a loud noise and assumed the helicopter had crashed.

The helicopter did not crash, according to representatives with the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office. Early Wednesday morning, the Sheriff's Office confirmed that the helicopter landed safely in Hammond with no injuries.

Some believe the loud noise Livingston eyewitnesses heard was due to the helicopter hitting a few trees.

At this time, the identity of the individual manning the helicopter and the organization the aircraft may be affiliated with remain unknown.

At times, helicopters are legally allowed to fly lower than other aircraft as it’s much easier for them to perform emergency landings than it is for other aircrafts. In addition to this, they’re often used by law enforcement and emergency medical service agencies, requiring a bit of leeway from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)

Here, maybe this will liven it up for ya?

Forgive the stupid question but are commercial operations allowed at night on single engines in the U.S.A.?

There are no stupid questions, but the answer is yes.....why would a twin be required?

Here in Europe singles aren't allowed to be used for Commercial Air Transport operations at night. Anything single and rotary after civil twilight generally can only be private.

In Oz, night charter is in a twin, and the pilot must hold an instrument rating.

A couple of years ago I asked this exact question here

https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/61...ight-quiz.html

for me now as it was then it’s all about the stabilisation not the number of engines.

Is engine failure your number one cause of accidents there? Ours is wire strikes (second by weather, I believe) which don't care how many engines you have.

I'm not sure what the reasoning behind that regulation is but I'm certain it's not new.

I believe that the reason behind the regulation is that originally helicopters all had piston engines, which were less reliable than they are today. The rule was made and never revoked, despite engines becoming more reliable.

What is a low flying fairground?

So you mean pilot error then? As is everywhere else...

Laws exist to protect the people on the ground, not only those in the air.
In dense urban environments there is little margin for error and a low probability of a forced landing that can be safely done without damage to people and property, and magically redundant powerplants help reduce that risk.
Since most traffic is commercial in rotorwing the regulations probably make sense to those that make the regs.
That pilots have a habit of flying into things doesn't negate the concept of probability.

Low flying is a regular killer, so cowboy operators that make their livelihoods by offering thrill rides to uninformed members of the public, are just riding the statistical curve towards a smoking hole in the ground.
Still, it's a great way to generate ongoing demand for Frank and co. :}

Philosophical question: are engines more reliable today?
From a design and manufacturing perspective components are possibly of a more consistent quality, but failures almost always end up due to poor or lack of maintenance, or poor installation.
The human aspects have not changed.
The volumes of flight hours have increased, as has urban density so if anything the risks are greater now than they were before.

I don't think you will find any official reports that state the wire or the weather caused an accident.... unless you believe everything you read in your daily tabloid news reports.

Apolloheli: Or military (although admittedly all the Squirrels and, I believe, Gazelles have now been withdrawn).

It's an oblique reference to this earlier thread from November last year.

As with the government's response to Covid, too true.

As with the government's response to Covid, the common man is disadvantaged and has to obey

How does that have anything to do with the operation that was described in the original post, which, other than occurring in the vicinity of a fairground, almost certainly had nothing to do with fairs or helicopter ride concessions?

It's been a very sad year around here: all of the fairs and other events that would normally have enjoyed a helicopter ride concession have been cancelled due to the pandemonium :(

apart from low-flying? Very little.