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Old 09-18-2016, 08:13 PM
 
Location: DMV
18 posts, read 205,291 times
Reputation: 43

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Is there a way to find out why or what helicopter is circling a specific area? I can't find anything via Google at the moment. I'm wondering if there's a site that shows all air traffic of helicopters up in the air, specifically per locale - be it military, police, news, etc.
FYI: I'm not too far from National Airport and there's been a helicopter circling in a wide berths for almost 45 minutes now and just really curious what's up.
Thanks much!
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Old 09-18-2016, 08:23 PM
 
Location: alexandria, VA
16,352 posts, read 8,090,990 times
Reputation: 9726
Maybe a police helicopter. Could have been a robbery in the area. Someone knocked over the 7-eleven.
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Old 09-18-2016, 08:57 PM
 
862 posts, read 1,196,467 times
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Don't know of a way to find out where the helicopter was coming from but could it been a TV news chopper ?? Washington channels 4,5,7 and 9 and channels 2 and 45 from Baltimore all share the same helicopter now. Baltimore's 45 and DC's channel 7 are now under the same ownership, have no idea why Baltimore's channel 2 would share such a thing with the DC stations though other than just to say that they have a helicopter and to save money plus that city's channels 11 and 13 each have their own helicopter so they probably would not want to share it with a competitor. Unfortunately due to the sharing there would not be a logo on the chopper to say which station the chopper is from. Here in Denver the main TV stations as well as KOA radio ( I think it's the case with KOA ) share a chopper too. Usually out here when a chopper is circling around it usually means that there is either a fire, robbery or a traffic accident somewhere in the area.

Last edited by tantan1968; 09-18-2016 at 09:13 PM..
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Old 09-18-2016, 09:00 PM
 
1,159 posts, read 1,289,387 times
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There are police scanner apps that may help. They take a while to get the hang of understanding the jargon though.
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Old 09-18-2016, 09:35 PM
 
2,568 posts, read 2,517,542 times
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Pilot training, security, military, TV-Radio traffic reports, who knows, it could be anything. Certainly in this area it shouldnt be seen as unusual. A scanner that receives the Air Band 108-137 mhz may offer a clue.
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Old 09-19-2016, 06:00 AM
 
Location: Falls Church, Fairfax County
5,162 posts, read 4,485,378 times
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I have seen more helicopters in LA than I have in Northern VA, and I have been a passenger in a bunch here.

They fly over my house a few times weekly.

You will get news helicopters.
Police Helicopters.
Military Helicopters for numerous reasons such as training to transporting to decoy to show or ceremony.
Commercial, thought that seems very limited IMHO.
Then you have the weird agencies that enforce no fly zones and stuff and the Coast Guard.


A few months ago I was coming home and watched a VA State police helicopter land in the parking lot of the salt/sand lot near the VA State Trooper barracks on Columbia Pike.

Apparently there was some suicidal nut job and they had closed Washington Blvd in at least one direction.
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Old 09-19-2016, 07:47 AM
 
Location: MID ATLANTIC
8,674 posts, read 22,910,099 times
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Over the weekend I saw the coolest thing, a pair of helicopters with the multiple sets of blades - I thought more than 2 sets of rotars, but perhaps not. My friend, Google, identifies them as Marine Ospreys. Living in eastern PW County (especially near water), we do see an abundance of copters, but I rarely stop what I am doing to go outside and look. For me to do that, it usually takes a heard of them overhead.
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Old 09-19-2016, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Falls Church, Fairfax County
5,162 posts, read 4,485,378 times
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Ospreys are awesome and have quite a history in this area though I have personally seen very few.
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Old 09-19-2016, 10:11 AM
 
4,224 posts, read 3,015,571 times
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It used to be more current, but the FCPD Helicopter Division posts an info list on its recent missions. These account for part but far from all of the rotor traffic in the skies...

Fairfax County Police Department Helicopter Division*- Fairfax County, Virginia
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Old 09-21-2016, 06:34 AM
 
Location: MID ATLANTIC
8,674 posts, read 22,910,099 times
Reputation: 10512
Quote:
Originally Posted by smirnova View Post
Is there a way to find out why or what helicopter is circling a specific area? I can't find anything via Google at the moment. I'm wondering if there's a site that shows all air traffic of helicopters up in the air, specifically per locale - be it military, police, news, etc.
FYI: I'm not too far from National Airport and there's been a helicopter circling in a wide berths for almost 45 minutes now and just really curious what's up.
Thanks much!
Saw something that made me think of this thread. Yesterday, waiting at the Pentagon, a helicopter had just landed or was taking off, and another approached, and started circling and landed when the first left.
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