Posted: 8/8/2016 5:24:29 PM EDT
On Saturday, Sheriff’s Deputies in Osceola County, Florida (of course) saw a helicopter buzz over route U.S. 192 low enough to nearly hit some street lamps. The cops didn’t take kindly to this, figured out where the helicopter was registered, went there and waited for it to land. Police presumably spotted the helicopter’s tail number or some distinctive markings because News 13 reports that they were able to get to the helicopter’s home base, Orlando HeliTours, before the chopper touched down. Local news says the pilot Thomas Vorstman, 31, told police “he could not exit the helicopter” when he first touched down, took off, and landed again five minutes later before shutting the vehicle off and engaging with police. Fox Orlando reports that Vorstman “was arrested on charges of operating an aircraft in a reckless manner and resisting [arrest] without violence.” Deputies booked him into the Osceola County Jail and notified the Federal Aviation Administration, which “issued a statement saying the agency will investigate the matter to determine if any of their regulations were violated” according to WESH. Orlando HeliTours operates Bell Jet Ranger and Robinson R66 helicopters, the latter of which would appear to be skimming over the road here. The R66 can hold four passengers plus a pilot, or a total of 927 pounds in people, cargo and fuel. http://jalopnik.com/how-to-get-arrested-for-reckless-helicoptering-1784980590 That looks like 192 West near 27. Use to by my work route. I would see these guys out all the time, typically about 50 feet. Saw some Ospreys fly over at about 30 feet on the East side of 192 just south of the Kissimmee airport. |
| We were at the range once and a helicopter flew up and hovered over us. It was still much higher than the one in the picture, but it was lower than the high hillside that formed the berm. It kind of hovered there for awhile, drifting to the pilots left. I think it would take a million and one shot to hit it with a ricochet, since it would have to turn in an almost 90 degree angle, but no one was willing to risk it so we just stood around, half a dozen guys with AR15s as the moron kind of floated above us. I thought maybe the helicopter was fucked up, it looked pretty old, but it eventually sort of slowly flew away. |
| I was working on top of the Living Seas pavilion at Disney World in mid 80's when this twin prop plane blew through from the NE across the lagoon. Right behind it was a Blackhawk about 100 ft behind it. They must have been doing over 200 mph because didn't see or hear it till the prop plane was blowing by. I was probably 50 to 60 ft above the ground on the roof decking. they were almost head level maybe 150 ft to the side just barely past the building. |
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I'm familiar with the area as I used to fly aerial tours over Orland/Central Florida. They can notify the FAA all they want but if he was landing he may slide on this, they have a heli base in the middle of the city next to the highway.
Also, some counties have local ordinances on landing aircraft and what not on private property without advance notice. So the arrest may be something linked to one of those ordinances without looking it up. Not defending the guy, just adding more info to the situation. |
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Man that was rock steady flying. I assume for the closeups of the actor hovering it they actually had it on a stand, but the scenes where it was definitely airborne it was hardly moving. |
