So, I have been doing a bit of thinking about bridges. There is a sandbar that I'd really like to land on, but it would require flying under 2 bridges on my approach to land it. I k ow flying under bridges is illegal because of the 500' rule, but if I am doing it in order to land on the sandbars am I legal?
A bit of a brain teaser for a Friday morning. Or maybe just a stupid question...

David

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500 ft rule goes out the window when landing or taking off...... Flew under many bridges on approach in floatplanes.....should be no different on wheels.....

That's kinda what I was thinking, just wanted to double check with more experienced aviation minds.
Thanks
David

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Unless you're being "dangerous or reckless" and whether or not you have been seen

Ha ha, I thought of all that the other day when I DIDN'T fly under this bridge pictured, while on "final" for the gravel bar. it would have made for a pretty long final!

Some of us pilots need a long final.



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That would make perfect since to me...

That sand bar looks like it's on a deep gorge!!! A long final would have been much safer...

low rider wrote:500 ft rule goes out the window when landing or taking off...... Flew under many bridges on approach in floatplanes.....should be no different on wheels.....

Not true! Here's the verbiage at the beginning of 91.119:

§ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.

Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

And then it goes on to talk about the various altitude requirements.

I know of one fellow who flew under a set of wires, then (low) over houses to land on a lake. FAA violated. He argued that he was landing so 91.119 didn't apply......wrong.

Note that it MAY be "necessary" to fly under a bridge to land somewhere, or takeoff, and the FAA isn't suggesting that you can't land there because you would have to fly closer than 500 feet to people places and stuff.....they're only saying that if there is any OTHER way to land there, you MUST take that route while landing or taking off.

And, yes, the reckless/careless reg is probably going to kick in if anything bad happens.

This is one of the most misunderstood FARs, in fact.

MTV

If you are flying under a bridge just to fly under a bridge It will most likely look like that to somebody who may be watching.The Feds can get you for the reckless thing in a lot of situations.Even though Forest hill Bridge in auburn is over 700 ft tall my guess is not too many people would appreciate you flying under it.

low rider wrote:If you are flying under a bridge just to fly under a bridge It will most likely look like that to somebody who may be watching.The Feds can get you for the reckless thing in a lot of situations.Even though Forest hill Bridge in auburn is over 700 ft tall my guess is not too many people would appreciate you flying under it.

I for one will appreciate it

I'm a sucker for bridges, and sometimes I just can't help myself.



Solo, in formation, and one full moon night shot.

Maybe there's a 12-step I can sign up for.

Gump

PS: Hypothetical discussion, of course.

I flew to the west side of the state last week, and followed the Snake all the way back, much longer then a straight shot but more fun. A closer shot of the bridge down from the gravel bar I landed on, note the strategically place power lines (unmarked) to possibly snare any unwary bridge buzzing pilot. Not a bridge, but a real cool private strip labeled "Ziggy" on the sectional. Off grid, with a large solar system, me and the owner would have much to talk about, I circled a bit waiting for a friendly wave (which would be construed as an invite to land immediatly) but saw no one, the plane is TOO quiet sometimes![img]htt%20p://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu213/simkot/fall010.jpg[/img] The big bridge.....many Idaho pilots know this one, and some I heard flew under it, years ago. Now a world famous base jump site (and good for the city for allowing it, they told the liability weenies to "go jump off a bridge" I heard, and it has proven to be a real money maker for the city. Motel rooms/resturants etc. all profit. When I was there I met a Dutch couple on their honeymoon, base jumping across the US, and leaving some Dueschtmarks (?) in Twin Falls when they left. A real classic bridge in a great setting, Kenivel's ramp remnants can still be seen on the right about 1/2 mile past the bridge. The last of the big Snake River bridges heading towards my place, concrete, efficient no doubt but not as sexy as the steel bridges, note the extreme low water, you could almost step across the mighty Snake.

I landed under power lines and took off under another set of power lines, during an intro seaplane lesson at Montague Harbor, BC, which is on the west side of Galiano Island, one of the Gulf Islands. Since I'd never flown under anything before, it was a new experience. As I recall, the power lines were at 200' AGL, so we came in at 100' AGL. It was the only way to land at that location, other than to taxi for an inordinate distance, which wouldn't be very practical. Of course, that's under Canadian Transport law, but I think it's similar to FAA regs.

Cary

Crawling the coast on floats in fog, under the wires was standard practise. Bridges not so much, did more of those in a helicopter than the Beaver. No reg specifically against it. If you got busted you probably deserved it.

If they get you for dangerous and reckless don't worry we'll break you out.

I know a guy who flew under this bridge.The pictures from the security cameras were good enough to identify his face I am told.Bridge is near a major port and Navy base.Word is they wanted jail time.FBI,Homeland wanted him real bad.He did lose his license for a while.

Bill

Here is the link to the bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piscataqua_River_Bridge

Bill

Wonder if any of you have seen the film about Tim Martin. A pilot from Moab (actually I think he lived in LaSalle) in the 60s and 70s that flew underneath a bunch of arches and bridges throughout UT.

He took some great movie shots and is worth the watch if you haven't seen the video. I have a VHS copy, don't know if there is a DVD available?

I have seen and floated under the bridge that the film shows him flying under at Westwater, CO over the Colorado River. How he navigated that is amazing. Good video if you haven't seen it.

http://www.swaviator.com/html/issueSO02/Arch91002.html

http://www.trikepilot.com/videos/view/arch-enemy_14699.html

Regards, Larry

Here's a clip of an old pal of mine doing it Eastern style in Kaunas, Lithuania. Yurgis Kairis is from Lithuania but was flying with the old Central Aero Club of the USSR when I first met him about 30 years ago. I think he had a bit of trouble gauging his height with the glassy water, and the bridge deck wasn't all that high. Trusting souls watching it from said bridge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz5AcbaJzLo&sns=em