Medical Helicopter Crash - Opinion

Let me save the FAA investigators a lot of time and money in regard to the crash of the medical helicopter in our area this week.

Pilot error. The pilot was flying too low.

Aeronautical charts show locations of all obstacles to flight. I haven't looked at one for that area, but I'll bet the 734-foot tower is on it. It matters less whether the tower lights were on or not. A pilot is to inspect a chart for obstacles along his flight path.

The pilot should have been higher. He still had 50 miles to go.

Seven hundred feet is pattern altitude around airports. That's the distance above ground that a pilot flies in a small plane to approach an airport for landing.

Prudent flying means you keep enough distance between your plane and the ground that, if some mechanical problem occurs, you have a fighting chance of finding an open spot to land.

I can't imagine any reason for a pilot of a medical helicopter to be flying at 700 feet AGL (above ground level) with still 50 miles to go to his hospital destination.