Why are military helicopters flying over my house?

The usual reasons

1. Training. This is the big one. Crews must log hours flying low-level navigation, formation, landings in unfamiliar fields and night-vision flying, and they can’t do that over the base alone. Training routes often follow highways, rivers and power lines.
2. Moving between bases. Helicopters reposition to other bases, maintenance depots, civilian airports for fuel, and exercise areas. A transit flight can cross a lot of neighborhoods.
3. Exercises. Larger exercises bring units from out of state, so you can see types that aren’t normally local.
4. National Guard missions. Guard helicopters fight wildfires with water buckets, help after floods and storms, and fly rescues for their state.
5. Search and rescue and medical evacuation. Military and Coast Guard crews fly rescues and patient transfers, especially near the coast and in the mountains.
6. Flyovers. Football games, holidays, funerals and change-of-command ceremonies get flyovers, and the crews practice the timing beforehand.
7. VIP transport. Senior officials and officers travel by helicopter, often with a second aircraft alongside.
8. Recruiting and community events. Helicopters land at schools, fairs and airshows, and fly to and from them.

Why there are two of them

Military helicopters often fly as a pair. Formation flying is a core skill, a second aircraft can help if the first has a problem, and many missions are flown as a two-ship. Two helicopters close together, one slightly behind the other, is a normal sight.

Which helicopter is it?

• Two big rotors, no tail rotor: CH-47 Chinook. You feel the thump before you hear it.
• Sleek, four-blade rotor, wheels: UH-60 Black Hawk, the Army’s utility helicopter and the most common one you’ll see.
• Narrow body, two cockpits one behind the other, stub wings: AH-64 Apache, an attack helicopter.
• Two huge propellers on the wingtips: V-22 Osprey. Not technically a helicopter: it takes off like one, then tilts its rotors forward and flies like a plane.
• The classic Vietnam-era shape and a two-blade “whop”: a Huey or one of its descendants.
• Bright orange-red: a Coast Guard rescue helicopter.

Do military helicopters show up on flight maps?

Often, yes. Plenty of military aircraft broadcast their position like anyone else when flying in civilian airspace. Some don’t, or broadcast without a name, especially on training missions. If one is on the map, Bogey shows it in amber. Here’s why some aircraft don’t appear.

Is it allowed to fly that low?

Helicopters are allowed to fly lower than airplanes when they can do it safely, and military crews train on approved low-level routes. If you think a flight was unsafe, contact the public affairs or community relations office of the nearest base. Most publish a noise or community line. More on how low aircraft can fly.