Helicopter Landing in the Bob Marshall Wilderness

As a PS to this. You should contact the FAA and file a formal complaint with them. They take a very dim view of such shenanigans and will most likely pull the pilots ticket and issue a fine(s). Furthermore there's just no excuse for this at all. The gps navigation unit in the chopper and the charts they had to have in the pilots possession clearly informed them they FUd big time. It would have been one thing to wander over the line at 2000ft and pass over but to land just to fish? Pffftttt. The fact that they were fishing damns them. Hey buddy just move along. If as stated that one of the men is a co-owner of ONx perhaps this forum should suspend their sponsorship. PPS. If the Rules of Wilderness only belong to some and not all then what's the point of them.
 
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My speculation is that the offending couple already have a top shelf lawyer putting this to bed.

No one posting here, myself included, know with any certainty if they screwed up accidentally or willfully. Even if it was willful, it would be nearly impossible to prove in a court.

I'll predict they pay a fine and agree to fund some project that the forest service would like to complete. I'd put the chances of losing the helicopter at zero.
 
406dn said:
No one posting here, myself included, know with any certainty if they screwed up accidentally or willfully. Even if it was willful, it would be nearly impossible to prove in a court.
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Ignorance doesn't mean you Get to break the law. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not. No need to prove that.

If anything that would make the whole thing worse. You can't fly around negligently without knowing where you are.
 
Black Bear Ford is within the jurisdiction of the Flathead National Forest, based in Kalispell.

azelkhntr said:
The NFS has its own Law Enforcement Division so I would call the local NFS Hdqtrs in charge of the Bob. If this did indeed occur tell them you want to see charges filed by them.
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JLS said:
That is incorrect. Many statutes require intent in order to be a violation
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Eye witness’s seeing them fishing eliminates any need to establish intent. Besides no one unintentionally flies a helicopter 10 miles over the line and lands in a Wilderness Area. The only valid excuse would be mechanical malfunction but we know that didn’t happen because once busted they rotored on out right.
 
Wildabeast said:
@azelkhntr, you're full of opinions, but you direct others to take the action? What gives?
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A poster on this thread asked what could be done and I gave advise not opinions. As noted I don’t live or hunt in MT but I’ll be happy to sign on to assist you who live there in defending your Rights and such. Because why not. People think they have no power but in reality We the People have all the power. What those people did was a Federal felony and just saying oh yeah we’re sorry really doesn’t cut it right? Besides it’s better to get action if it begins at the local level. Call the authorities and demand charges be filed. They have to act one way or the other but if you don’t they probably won’t. It’s easy to piss and moan then do nothing. Tell you what; I’ll contact the Director of The Department of Agriculture and file a complaint myself.
 
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azelkhntr said:
As noted I don’t live or hunt in MT but I’ll be happy to sign on to assist you who live there in defending your Rights and such.
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Wilderness Act is Federal. You could live in the NE corner of Maine and hold just as much weight in following your own opinion/advise as any other American, none the less one in MT.
This is not a comment on your opinion/advise one way or the other.
 
Sytes said:
Wilderness Act is Federal. You could live in the NE corner of Maine and hold just as much weight in following your own opinion/advise as any other American, none the less one in MT.
This is not a comment on your opinion/advise one way or the other.
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I’ll do so tonight via email. If someone will provide me the relevant Sheriffs ph. no: I’ll call them too.
 
The sheriff has nothing to do with it. It’s a federal violation. Unless the sheriffs office has an MOU and federal commissions they have no legal authority or jusrisdiction over this.
 
azelkhntr said:
Eye witness’s seeing them fishing eliminates any need to establish intent. Besides no one unintentionally flies a helicopter 10 miles over the line and lands in a Wilderness Area. The only valid excuse would be mechanical malfunction but we know that didn’t happen because once busted they rotored on out right.
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Again, you are incorrect. Some statutes are a strict liability offense, meaning you did not have to know you were breaking the law to commit the violation and be prosecuted for it. Others require intent, some require intent and knowledge. An eyewitness does not eliminate the need to prove these in a prosecution if they are so required in the statute.
 
So I just sent this to the big guy at the US Dept. of Ag. Please feel free to copy and paste and resend if you'd like to see justice done.

To the Director of The Department of Agriculture.
Sir. It has recently come to my attention that a couple flew a helicopter deep inside the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area and deliberately and willfully landed upon the banks of the South Fork of the Flathead River to do some spring trout fishing. Clearly this act is a Federal Felony if not many committed by the pilot who I believe is named Sara Schwerin. The tail number of the Bell helicopter is N263CH which is reportedly owned by WOS Holdings of Belgrade, Mt. I personally want to see all relevant charges made against this person and any other co-pilots or willing passengers involved in this egregious crime against the Wilderness Act and the People of the US. Please notify the FAA about this event for follow-up and charges to be filed by them as well. If the rules and Laws of Wilderness are not enforced as established then there is no point in the Wilderness at all. Please be so kind to keep me informed of the progress of your investigation into this Felony(s). Apparently there are also 2 eyewitnesses to this crime.
Respectfully:
 
JLS said:
Again, you are incorrect. Some statutes are a strict liability offense, meaning you did not have to know you were breaking the law to commit the violation and be prosecuted for it. Others require intent, some require intent and knowledge. An eyewitness does not eliminate the need to prove these in a prosecution if they are so required in the statute.
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Okeedokee then.
 
I have spent a lot of time in 20+ different helicopters from private, commercial and federal birds and there wasn't a single pilot in the bunch that would have even considered taking off without a functioning gps system with mapping software. I can almost guarantee that they knew exactly where they were and most likely planned to do exactly what they were caught doing. The "high water mark excuse" that they gave the outfitter when caught in the act, further solidifies in my mind that they knew exactly what they were doing and likely came up with that excuse prior to even taking off for their little illegal adventure. Not sure how a wilderness landing falls into federally designated no landing zones, but the FAA typically takes those kinds of things very seriously. My only real hope for meaningful consequences for the pilot lies with the FAA. Of course, this would mean that their lobbyist/lawyer is unable to divert an FAA investigation.
 
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