How much of the LA River can you actually see from a helicopter?
The video covers the river from near its confluence at the 405/101 interchange south to Long Beach and the ocean—roughly the middle to lower two-thirds of the river system. The very upper reaches beyond Van Nuys are not accessible by helicopter due to airspace restrictions near Van Nuys Airport.
At a glance
Length
36 min
Channel
Micah Muzio
Video from
May 2020
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
LA geography enthusiasts, helicopter tour planners, and anyone curious about urban waterways from above
What this video answers
How much of the LA River can you actually see from a helicopter?
Is the LA River really that underwhelming at the start?
What happens with the airplane emergency in the video?
Can you fly the entire LA River route on a personal helicopter tour?
What's the best season to book this kind of flight?
Reads the guide aloud in your browser — free, no account.
What to Expect on This 34-Minute LA River Helicopter Flight
This aerial tour follows the Los Angeles River from its confluence near Van Nuys Airport southward through the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County, and into Long Beach, where it meets the Pacific Ocean. Filmed from a helicopter flying at 1,200 feet altitude with the doors off, the journey captures nearly the full length of the river as it winds through urban neighborhoods, past major studios and landmarks, and reveals how dramatically the waterway grows from a modest concrete channel into a substantial river. The flight was originally commissioned by a documentary filmmaker studying the LA River's development but evolved into a comprehensive aerial tour of the region's geography and infrastructure.
This experience suits anyone curious about Los Angeles from a new vantage point—urban explorers, geography enthusiasts, locals who want to see their city differently, and anyone interested in understanding how the LA River shapes and connects communities across the metropolis. You'll see the evolution of the river system in real time and pass numerous landmarks that are nearly invisible from ground level. The video also captures unexpected drama when another aircraft declares an engine emergency while approaching Long Beach, adding an authentic, unscripted element to the flight.
Key Moments
Key Sights Along the Route
Sepulveda Dam and the 405/101 interchange — where the video reveals the river's modest early size near major freeway junctions
Warner Bros. Studios and Disney Animation facilities — iconic LA studios bordered by the growing river in Burbank and Glendale
Universal Studios — visible from above with the river flowing adjacent to the major theme park
Downtown LA and the historic bridge architecture — the river widens dramatically as it passes through the city center with beautifully designed old-style bridges
Downtown waterfront transition to industrial zones — the dramatic shift from urban core to gritty warehouse districts along the lower river
River mouth at Long Beach and the Pacific Coast Highway — the final stretch where the river opens into tidal waters near the ocean, plus an unexpected aircraft emergency landing in progress
Planning Your Own LA River Aerial Adventure
Flight duration: Approximately 34 minutes from start to finish, covering roughly 50+ miles of river corridor
Altitude: The helicopter maintains 1,200 feet, low enough for clear detail but high enough to see the full geographic context
Best time to fly: Dusk or early evening offers smoother air, easier lighting, and a more comfortable flying experience; the video was shot during golden hour with excellent visibility
Weather considerations: Recent rainfall increases river flow dramatically; clear days are ideal for visibility, though any weather that grounds helicopters will cancel the tour
What to bring and wear: With doors-off flying, expect wind and cold at altitude—a light jacket is necessary even on warm ground days
Booking reality: Helicopter tour spots fill quickly, especially for specific themed routes; contacting operators well in advance is essential
Frequently Asked Questions About LA River Helicopter Tours
How much of the LA River can you actually see from a helicopter?
The video covers the river from near its confluence at the 405/101 interchange south to Long Beach and the ocean—roughly the middle to lower two-thirds of the river system. The very upper reaches beyond Van Nuys are not accessible by helicopter due to airspace restrictions near Van Nuys Airport. What you do see shows the river's transformation from a narrow concrete channel in the Valley to a wide waterway by the time it reaches Long Beach.
Is the LA River really that underwhelming at the start?
Yes, according to the video. In the Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks areas, the river initially resembles a canal or runoff rather than a traditional river. It's compressed into concrete, flows adjacent to freeways and shopping centers, and appears almost invisible from ground level. The progression is one of the most interesting aspects of the flight—the river grows visibly larger and more impressive as you move south.
What happens with the airplane emergency in the video?
Near the end of the flight as the helicopter approaches Long Beach, another aircraft declares an engine problem and is cleared for an emergency landing. The video captures the radio communication as this unfolds in real time, and the incident is documented in local news reports. It's an unplanned but dramatic conclusion to the tour.
Can you fly the entire LA River route on a personal helicopter tour?
Yes, but with limitations. The upper portions near Van Nuys are restricted, so most tours begin around the 405/101 area and follow the river south to Long Beach. Some sections require permission and specific routing through controlled airspace, which is why professional pilots file flight plans in advance and coordinate with multiple control towers along the way.
What's the best season to book this kind of flight?
Winter and early spring are optimal because recent rainfall increases the river's flow and makes it visually more impressive. The video was shot after heavy rains, which the pilot notes makes the water more dramatic. Clear, calm evenings are also preferable to daytime flights, as they offer smoother air and better lighting conditions.
A helicopter flight that follows the course of the Los Angeles River from inland areas toward the ocean, capturing the waterway's development and surrounding urban landscape from above.
Doors-off helicopter flight
A helicopter tour where the passenger doors are removed to allow unobstructed photography and filming while airborne.
Sepulveda Dam
A major flood control structure on the LA River in the San Fernando Valley that helps manage water flow and creates Sepulveda Basin.
Air traffic control transition
The process of switching radio communication between different airport control towers as a helicopter moves through different airspace zones during flight.
Swiftwater rescue
An emergency response to extract people from dangerous fast-moving flood waters, a concern when heavy rains cause the river to surge.
This video is invaluable if you're considering an aerial tour of Los Angeles or want to understand the city's geography from a completely new perspective. The pilot is honest about his initial skepticism—he wasn't sure the river alone would merit a full video—but the journey reveals how interconnected the LA River is with studios, landmarks, neighborhoods, and infrastructure. You also get a genuine sense of helicopter operations: radio traffic, air traffic control coordination, altitude management, and the practical realities of filming from the air.
What stands out most is how the video transforms the LA River from an overlooked urban feature into something genuinely compelling. The early sections are underwhelming, which makes the river's growth more striking. The route passes iconic LA locations—Warner Bros., Disney, Universal, Dodger Stadium area—which gives context even if you're not a river enthusiast. If you love Los Angeles, want to see it from above, or are curious about how to book a doors-off helicopter experience, this is an excellent reference for what to expect and why it's worth doing.
Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii
Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.
Get 10% off Flying Eyes Sunglasses! Be sure to use the coupon code MICAH to get your discount.
https://flyingeyesoptics.com/?ref=micah
LA River Flyover, from Van Nuys to Long Beach. My helicopter flyovers videos of California have inspired lots of flyover requests. One interesting request came from a documentary filmmaker who asked if I would be willing to shoot footage along the length of the LA River. I agreed but wasn’t sure the journey would merit a Micah Flies video.
Man, I’m so glad I decided to film the flight. Not only was the LA River’s development from Van Nuys to Long Beach fascinating but we also saw many of the sites viewers have requested. To top off the flight, a plane had to make an emergency landing as I approached Long Beach and I listened to the drama unfold in real-time. It was a flight to remember.
Here's the documentary that requested I fly the LA river.
https://www.superfiskyfilm.com
Emergency Landing in Coyote Creek
https://www.longbeachlocalnews.com/2020/04/14/airplane-makes-emergency-landing-in-long-beach/
1:00 405 Freeway
1:12 Van Nuys
1:32 Roscoe Blvd
2:18 Sherman Way
2:57 Victory Blvd
3:09 Woodley Park
3:40 Sepulveda Dam
3:59 405/101 Interchange
4:49 Sherman Oaks
5:13 Westfield Fashion Square
5:34 Woodman Ave
5:56 St. Francis de Sales Church
6:22 Coldwater Canyon Ave.
6:36 Weddington Golf & Tennis
7:07 Laurel Canyon Blvd
7:19 CBS Broadcasting
7:37 Colfax Ave
7:48 Studio City
8:19 Vineland Ave
8:25 The 101 (Hollywood Fwy)
8:35 Universal Studios
8:44 Lakeside Golf Club
9:24 Warner Bros. Studios
10:04 Forest Lawn Memorial Park
10:19 ABC Studios
10:24 Disney Animation
10:39 The 134 (Ventura Fwy)
10:53 Travel Town!!!
11:55 Interstate 5
11:59 Dreamworks Animation
12:17 Glendale
12:25 The 134 (Ventura Fwy)…again
12:40 Wilson & Harding Golf Courses
13:03 Colorado St. Fwy Exit
13:59 Los Feliz Blvd
14:31 Hyperion Ave
15:03 Fletcher Dr
15:10 The 2 (Glendale Fwy)
15:21 Glassell Park
15:25 Mt. Washington
15:35 Sotomayor Arts and Sciences Magnet School
16:34 Metrolink Train Yard
16:49 Interstate 5 (Golden State Fwy)
17:03 The 110 (Arroyo Seco Pkwy)
17:24 N Broadway
17:28 N Spring St
17:35 N Main St
17:49 Downtown LA
18:05 LA Police Air Support Division
18:20 Hwy 101
18:35 E 1st St
18:56 E 4th St
19:03 E 6th St Bridge
19:13 E 7th St ¬¬¬
19:41 E Olympic Blvd
20:02 Washington Blvd
20:54 S Downey Rd
21:54 S Atlantic Blvd
22:20 Slauson Ave
22:57 E Gage Ave
23:15 Florence Ave
24:31 Old South Gate Train Bridge
24:48 The 710 Freeway
25:00 Imperial Hwy
25:45 710/105 Interchange
30:27 Interstate 405
30:37 Wardlow Rd
31:29 Willow St
32:03 Pacific Coast Hwy
32:23 Anaheim St
33:00 Ocean Blvd
33:26 Queensway Bridge
34:07 Island Grissom
#MicahFlies
▶FOLLOW ME◀
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micahmuzio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/micahmuzio
Watch me on Kelley Blue Book’s channel.
https://www.youtube.com/kbb
▶CAMERAS◀
Camera 1 - https://amzn.to/3076vpx
Camera 2 - https://amzn.to/2Ng8gLQ
▶CAMERA MOUNT◀
Camera Mount - https://amzn.to/2uvFOyS
▶MUSIC◀
I really do write the music for these video reviews. The songs in this video are…
https://soundcloud.com/micahmuzio/8-17-16-autopilot
Video transcript for “Helicopter View of the LA River | Van Nuys to Long Beach” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
All right, I have a weird one today. I'm not sure if you guys will care about this, but uh people are making a documentary about the LA River who have asked me to shoot some video of the LA River from uh where it enters the ocean way down in Long Beach all the way back up until uh it's it's beginning. The
thing is I can't go that far. Uh the river goes right past the Van Nuys Airport. I can't do the entire thing. We're going to do most of the LA River. If you guys would like to see the LA River, we've got a producer request in here. And just how far does it go? Follow along. Maybe we'll learn
something. Who knows? Quick interjection. Not only did my LA River run wind up being super fascinating, but we saw a ton of really cool LA sites that people have been requesting. And at the end of my flight, another aircraft went down with engine trouble. So yeah, my little run down the river was far
more interesting and dramatic than I could have anticipated. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to follow the 405 uh south here, get a little bit of a What's that freeway traffic look like these days now that we're all staying home? And then after we're done with this, uh we're going to pick up the
uh 134, direction 101, and that's going to take us uh eastbound. We'll fly through Burbank's airspace. And then after that, we'll uh follow the LA River south. All right, is this the uh Busch I mean the uh Budweiser beer factory off to the right? I believe it is.
Please stand traffic 4 mi north of you southbound 405. 5 helicopter 1,200 indicated. By the way, we're flying at 1,200 ft. If that seems a little low. Helicopter 9285 traffic is approaching the interchange about your 1:00 moving to 12:00. 4 mi helicopter eastbound slow moving 1,400 indicated. They're looking for
you. Uh we have that traffic in sight. We would prefer visual separation to avoid it. 4285 approved as requested. Please stand traffic has you in sight. By the way, I've got a heck of a tailwind here. We're doing 102 mph with with 85 mph We said we're having some issues earlier on 190, but it seems to be working okay
right now. So, we're everything's fine where we're at. Sorry. When people are talking, I'm listening. Please turn. Do they have you in sight? All right. Yes, we're going to do that. 7285 frequency changes approved actually later. 7285 7285
Okay, so at some point here we're going to pick up the LA River and then we're just going to follow it and that'll be cool.
Look at the 5 request uh turn to the east following the 101. 435 approved as requested. Contact Burbank Tower 118.7 for transition. Advise them you have traffic in sight. I'll contact Burbank 118.7. We have the traffic in sight 285. Burbank Tower helicopter 9285 at the 405
101 interchange request east transition following the 101. You said 9285? Correct. 9285. Oh, here's the LA River. 9285 Burbank Tower helicopter 3006 squawk 0216 approved. 0216 uh for 9285. Okay. So, I think this is the river. We're going to pick it up here from the 405.
That's so funny. It does not look like much. Number 285, contact over the 405 101. Will do. Contact 405. Ah. Okay, I'm already fascinated actually. It kind of looks like a canal here. It's so unimpressive. It just looks like uh like runoff or something.
Also, I've driven the 101 a zillion times and never really thought about the fact that the LA River was immediately adjacent to it. That's amazing. Okay, I started with low expectations, but now I'm kind of interested to see where this goes.
Okay, so uh it goes under the uh the freeway there.
Copter 35, we'd like to follow the LA River near the foothills if possible. Copter 35 approved. Uh 35. All right. I think what's interesting to me is that the proximity of the mighty LA River to uh otherwise normal society, it just
goes completely unnoticed. Like there's a Staples up there, and there's the LA River going right behind it. It's going to be an interesting progression, too, because as we go further, it's just going to get bigger and bigger. Yeah, the shame of it is that LA's had a
ton of rain this season, and uh if I was here a couple of days ago, this would probably be uh a bit more impressive. My understanding is that the LA River, it starts uh way back to the west, like beyond Calabasas. It's out there in the the hills. Uh shooting a helicopter footage way
back back is a little impractical, but this is pretty neat. As a side bonus, I'm not going to have a bunch of the requests from people uh to shoot their neighborhood. I mean, at least the uh LA River part of their neighborhood.
When you see this, do you immediately think of Terminator 2? Yes, I know I dated myself. But you just can't see like a concrete river without thinking about Arnold Schwarzenegger riding a Harley. Also, if you ever if you know what ever happened to Eddie Furlong, let me know. I'm I'm curious.
I mean not LA River curious. This is way more interesting, but you know, if you know, you know. Let me know. Coming up on Universal Studios, which is on the right side of the nose there. Kind of need to see that. Shot that for a separate video. So, if you're curious what Universal Studios looks like when
nobody's there, check out that video.
Over at Universal City. That is a meticulously maintained golf course.
Hey, the Warner Brothers lot. When you see the Warner Brothers lot, do you think about Animaniacs? Yes, I'm dating myself. By the way, saw a story that they're going to bring that back. Cool. I'd sing the song, but I don't want to get sued.
That X uh heavy flight departing Burbank, that's some of the only traffic that's happening right now. Oh, look. We got some some real uh river action here.
Disney. Animation. Disney animation down there. Pretty darn cool how big the river has gotten uh just in the last uh few
minutes. All right. Now, I'm going to switch over to 12302 where we'll have a bunch of annoying static. Sorry.
Hey, what is that? Okay. We got a little tributary happening here, and the LA River's getting even bigger. Okay, I'll be honest, guys. I'm more fascinated by the the way the LA River winds its way through varying neighborhoods than I thought I might be. One of the things that I was really concerned about with
our recent rains is the fact that there are people that live down in the river. You can see it. Is that like a tent down there? I used to uh, you know, rollerblade along this path that's adjacent to the river here. And you would see, uh, you know, there are like tent cities. So, whenever there's rain,
my big concern is that people are going to get washed away. And sure enough, in Long Beach a couple weeks ago, that happened. There was a whole swiftwater rescue thing. All right, I'll do a more thorough flight around Glendale, but I will note that up to the north, we've got Glendale.
Helicopter 285134, 500 change south 800. All right, so off to the right side there, we've got the LA Zoo. Gosh, it's beautiful. By the way, I picked a really good time to fly this route. It is just gorgeous out right now. LA's back into its traditional beautiful
weather pattern and uh, with the doors off, it's a little bit chilly, but if I were stationary on the ground, it'd be darn perfect. And the sun is setting. It's majestic. Oh, yeah. So, one of the things I have seen along here, but not from the air, is this footbridge. It's got a really
interesting design. Looks like like a blade.
Sorry, I'm just flying with the light. It's a really, really nice moment to be flying. When we first started, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to spot the LA River because it's super
small. But, no problem now. This will be easy to track all the way down to the ocean. For the record, I I can't shoot helicopter footage for for every documentary crew that has an interest in it, but it is nice to help out every once in a while, so. People have asked, "Hey, what do you
charge to fly with you?" And the answer is I don't. I never, ever charge to fly because I don't want to make this a job. So, so if you'd like to come fly in LA, I definitely have some recommendations. I'm not going to be your dude, probably. Although, I do like the occasional fun
project, so you can still reach out to me. But, if I say no, please don't take it personally. I just don't want this to become a career. You know, it just sucks the fun out of it. Hey, we're crossing over the two here at uh skirting to the west of Mount Washington and the Eagle Rock area.
Helicopter 285 at the 25 interchange south 800.
There's some uh super sweet graffiti down there.
Okay, so it looks like we'll be running adjacent the trains. I see uh somebody on a bike uh riding down there. There's actually a pretty good uh amount of water down there. Uh pretty solid flow. Uh you can't see it, but out to the right there is Dodger Stadium and it looks like they got some of the lights
on. Normally, I would just go over there and show you Dodger Stadium, but uh I'm kind of stuck with flying over the river, so you see what you see. Yeah, as we get further south, uh
definitely becoming a more prominent river. Oh, and then we get some uh cool The architecture for these old-style bridges uh just looks really nice. Generally speaking, I'm a fan of Los Angeles. Oh man, but there's a beautiful sunset happening just over there. I would love to show you, but again, I got to keep my
uh helicopter pointed at the LA River, so bear with me. I have other videos where I uh see some nice uh sunset action, so So, the right side of the news here uh is where the uh police helicopters uh operate from.
LAPD Yeah, so we're getting into some uh serious industrial space down here.
This feels like the right place to film car commercials or at The Walking Dead. In fact, okay, uh I shot a mini electric video for Kelley Blue Book, uh my prime employer, and I think we were in this parking lot right over here. It just looks so gritty and industrial. You can see You we why people prefer it.
Passing over the 10 freeway, there is a green Dodge Challenger. Good color. I'd actually uh probably get mine in that color or something like it. Guess I have terrible taste in colors.
All right, we're making pretty quick work of the uh the LA River tour. Turning on some lights. Dusk, by the way, is a really great time to fly. The uh the air is a little bit smoother. Um it's easy uh lighting conditions. It's just beautiful to be out at that at a time like this.
Oh, hey, look, a a bunch of birds down there. Uh I don't know if you saw, but uh I did a video with the bird once. I had a bird strike. Uh it's the one of the things I I have been most concerned and cautious about. And uh finally hit a bird with my helicopter. If you want to see that
video, check it out. But the great news is that uh it didn't hit anything critical. It hit the one part of the helicopter, the one spinning part, that can't really be damaged, which was the mast, which is the part that uh holds the blades up, or rather holds the body of the helicopter when
the blades are lifting it, but And while I've been prattling on, uh the LA River has uh turned into an even wider, more impressive river.
We can just make out Signal Hill out there. So, we're going to be getting a little bit closer to my beloved hometown of Long Beach. When I say hometown, I don't mean I I was born there, but I've been there long enough I feel like I I kind of belong. Random people hanging out at the bottom
of the LA River. I wonder if they're taking the walking tour instead of the heli tour. It's going to take a while.
By the way, if you made it to this point in the video, kudos to you. Honestly, I was going to do this flight anyway, so I wasn't sure if I should make a video with it, but I figured what the heck. So, if you like seeing how the LA River develops, then thank you for sticking with us.
If you're curious, my ground speed right now is right about 92 mph. Uh we're making uh pretty quick progress. There's the uh Bicycle Casino off to the left. Not a great time for the Bicycle Hotel and Casino Casino right now.
There's a gorgeous sunset happening over there. I keep taunting you by talking about it, but man, it is lovely. Off to the left uh you can see the uh the 710 Freeway. Uh current time is right about 7:20 or so. So, yeah, it would normally be uh uh bellowing out a little bit right now
anyway, but that is very, very light. If you wanted to set a cross-country cannonball record, uh this would be the time to do it. Yeah, I know some people actually did that. Not sure how I feel about that, but uh if you hate traffic, this is a golden time. Silver linings, find them where you can.
All right, I'm going to listen to the uh weather for Long Beach.
Don't touch your face. I love that. Long Beach tower, Delta 0153 130011 310 sky clear 219 2.10 altimeter 3004 ILS runway 30 for you Runway 30 26 left 26 right advised of short runway you request Tower frequency is 119.4
all ground and clearance traffic use 133.0 Air Long Beach tower 1 and 2 closed actually golf use the runway 30 closed Actually Charlie switch aircraft with wings by larger than 120 ft after bird structure I will be 50 ft on the approach and runway 26 left Don't touch your face and advise on
initial contact you have ATIS information that's Delta Delta Long Beach tower helicopter 9285 6 mi north request south transition following the 710 with Delta Number 9285 Long Beach tower Transition to 3 Long Beach altimeter 3004 3004 and that's 9285 9285 that's
All right 5690 runway 26 right clear for left Uh number 215 216 we have an engine trouble 600 Number 600 roger Uh do you need to declare an emergency? Oh no
Oh no Number 216 roger declare emergency landing LA river 600 Oh no You can't make the little spot about 3 mi south of you? No this is 600 Oh There's a guy who's going to land in the LA river right now Oh no
So, I'm looking for that traffic and see if I can uh offer some eyes for the uh air traffic controllers. I'm going to quickly interject here. The pilot with the emergency said he was going to be landing in the LA River, which is the river I'm flying over. And looking at the iPad, there is a readout
from the ADSB system saying that there's an aircraft up ahead. So, I intuited they were the same, but they were not the same aircraft. So, he's got engine trouble. He's not going to be able to make it out back to the uh At this moment, I don't know what the tail number is for the aircraft with the
emergency. In a moment, you're going to hear the pilot call the tower after making a successful emergency landing, but I don't know that's what's happening. LA uh uh tower, November 216 Mike Sierra. November 6 Mike Sierra, go ahead and leave West. 831 traffic 12:00 and 3 miles northbound
or obstruction southbound helicopter 700. 831 November 285 traffic 12:00 and 3 miles obstruction helicopter 400. I'm going to divert to the west side of the 710 freeway. November 6 Mike Sierra, you on frequency? LA tower, 216
Long Beach tower, November 216 Mike Sierra. November 6 Mike Sierra, go ahead. Can you hear me? November 216 Mike Sierra, Long Beach tower, can you hear me? Uh
So, they're trying to contact the 831 that traffic straight ahead and to your left a mile and a half now southbound. They're up at 800. 831 that traffic Navy 31, frequency change approved. Navy 31 next. Got opposite direction traffic 300 ft below. Oh, there they are. Traffic 12:00 low
less than 1 mi. So Robin 6 Mike 0, can you hear me? It's the UH-60 uh 1,500 to the east inbound to Long Beach Tower runway 30. 11:00 low less than 1 mi.
Life 28, can you do me a favor? We have an aircraft just go down just south of your position. They said they were going to try to land in that river area. Life 28, I'm looking for it. Life 28, about a mile so mile and a half south of you. Mile mile and a half south of me, roger. Looking.
So as a pilot, when you hear that somebody else has trouble Cessna 105 heavy Long Beach Tower runway 30 62. Robin 216 Mike 0 Long Beach Tower, can you hear me? So uh so that plane was having trouble and uh it sounds like they went down.
Yeah, the tower can't raise him right now. Life 28, they said they were going to try to make it. Do you see like a riverbed there? Yeah, I think we can stop. Stand by. Okay. Air Tower, this is Guard
20928. We are We are over top of the the aircraft down in this valley right now. It's got the red white stripe wing. Guard 20928, yeah, that's affirmative. They're based here. They were just inbound for 26 right and they had an um engine trouble. Roger that. We're going to descend and
see if there's any problems. There was no smoke or anything like that. It doesn't look like there was any fire or anything. Guard 20928, yeah, thanks. It did sound like they were reaching out to me even after they went down, so I'm hoping that they just can't hear me. And is it Do we have a call sign see if we can
relay for you? Yes, Robin 216 Mike Sierra. They're actually on the the telephone with us right now, so uh Thank god. Uh you can you can give it a shot. And that was Robin 2106? 216 Mike Sierra. 216 Mike Sierra, roger. Robin 216 Mike Sierra, this is uh Guard Copter 20928, I'm coming.
So it sounds like they made it down uh okay. It just gets you when you hear that somebody else is having trouble like that. Uh can't help but empathize and put yourself in their position. So I'm really glad that they're on the ground. So they're on they're talking to uh Tower on the phone. Uh I think
they're going to be okay. So sorry 905 heavy contact at the departure gate. Uh So uh sorry uh uh documentary filmmakers, I missed part of the LA River, but uh Yeah, when they said that they were going to land in the river, I on my my pad here, uh there was traffic ahead of me, so I wanted to make sure I was not
in their way. Uh that traffic wound up being a uh a UH-60 for the Navy.
That's wild, man. I'm so glad they're okay. Oh, here. Look, the LA River is meeting the ocean. Wow, and I thought that LA River tour was going to be boring. Aren't you glad you stayed?
And that's the LA River tour. I cannot tell you how happy I am that uh that they were okay. Uh if you had to set your uh, airplane down uh, off airport uh, for an emergency and that was you, uh,
leave a comment. I want to know what happened and uh, how it all worked out. Sounds like it worked out okay. It did all work out. The pilot made a successful landing in a place called Coyote Creek like a total badass. If you're curious about the details, I put a link to the story in the description
below. Good job, pilot. Uh, one more sigh of relief. Hey, uh, thanks for joining. Uh, if you have any questions about this flight, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section or hit me up on Instagram. Uh, always happy to chat and uh, stay safe, guys, okay? Cheers.
Every video on Helicopter Tour Videos is hand-picked and reviewed by Justin — nothing is added automatically. Each one gets an original written guide and an honest rating: ⭐ 1 out of 2 means a good video worth your time, and ⭐⭐ 2 out of 2 means a great one we would recommend to anyone. The videos belong to their creators — every page links back to the original channel so you can subscribe and support them.