Helicopter Tracker USA: Live Helicopter Radar Map

The red icons on this map are helicopters that are in the air right now over the United States, from New York and Los Angeles to the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Airplanes are hidden, so what you see is only rotor traffic. Click any red icon and you get the callsign, registration, helicopter type, altitude, speed, heading and the place it is currently over, often with a photo of that exact aircraft.

Use the search box on the map to find a helicopter by callsign, registration (an N-number such as N123AB) or type, or type in a city like Houston or Phoenix to jump straight there. Zoom in with the scroll wheel or the plus button to separate icons over a busy city, and zoom out to see helicopter traffic across the whole country, or the whole world.

Why you see so many helicopters over the United States

No other country has as much helicopter traffic as the United States. The reasons are practical: big distances between hospitals, large police departments with their own air units, thousands of oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, a busy military, local TV stations that cover traffic and breaking news from the air, and tourist flights over places like the Grand Canyon and Manhattan. Add in training schools, utility work on power lines, firefighting and private owners, and you get a map that is rarely quiet, even at night.

Since the FAA rule that took effect on January 1, 2020, aircraft flying in the busiest US airspace, including the airspace around major airports and above 10,000 feet, must broadcast their position with ADS-B Out. That is why most helicopters working over American cities show up on this helicopter tracker. The USA uses two ADS-B links, 1090ES and 978 UAT, and what you see depends on receivers within range picking up the signal.

Police helicopters: LAPD, NYPD and county sheriffs

A helicopter circling low over a neighborhood at night is very often police. The Los Angeles Police Department Air Support Division is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement operation in the world, and it has flown since 1956. Over Los Angeles you will regularly see several LAPD helicopters on the map at the same time, each flying tight circles above a search, a pursuit or a perimeter.

The NYPD Aviation Unit flies Bell 429 and Bell 412 helicopters from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, and uses the radio callsign Finest. Besides patrol, the unit covers maritime search and rescue around New York City. Many county sheriff’s offices and state police agencies also fly their own helicopters, so a slow-moving red icon over a suburb is worth a click.

Medical helicopters and Life Flight programs

Air medical helicopters, known in the industry as HEMS, are the most common working helicopters in rural America. Air Methods is the largest provider in the country and reports operating 329 helicopters from 300 bases in 48 states, flying under local program names such as LifeNet, AirLife, Flight For Life and CareFlight. Typical types are the Bell 407, Airbus H125, H130, H135 and H145. On the map a medical flight looks like a straight line from a small town or highway to a hospital rooftop, often at a few thousand feet.

Coast Guard, military and offshore helicopters

Along the coasts and the Great Lakes you will see US Coast Guard helicopters: the orange MH-60T Jayhawk and the smaller MH-65 Dolphin, used for search and rescue, law enforcement and homeland security patrols. Military helicopters from Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force bases also appear, but they often broadcast less than civilian aircraft.

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the busiest helicopter regions in the world. PHI, headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, Bristow and ERA fly crews between the Louisiana and Texas coast and the offshore oil and gas platforms, with types such as the Sikorsky S-76 and the Airbus H160. PHI aircraft use the radio callsign Petroleum. Zoom in south of Houma, Fourchon or Galveston and you will usually find a stream of icons heading out to sea.

News and tourist helicopters

Over large cities in the morning and afternoon rush, look for helicopters that hover above the freeways: those are usually TV news helicopters covering traffic, and they move quickly to a fire, a chase or a crash scene. Tourist flights are easy to recognize by their pattern. Over Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon you will see helicopters flying the same loop over and over, and above the Hudson River in New York sightseeing flights follow a fixed route past the Statue of Liberty and back.

Why a helicopter is sometimes not on the map

This map shows what is being transmitted and received, not every helicopter in the sky. Helicopters fly low, and a signal from a few hundred feet is easily blocked by buildings or hills before it reaches a receiver, so an aircraft can disappear while it is still overhead. Police and military helicopters sometimes transmit nothing or reduced data during operations, and some light aircraft are exempt from the ADS-B rule outside the busiest airspace.

When a signal is lost, the map keeps the helicopter moving on its last course for a few minutes as an estimated position, then removes it. If you heard a helicopter but see nothing, wait a moment and zoom in, or check whether it has just landed at a nearby hospital or heliport.

Frequently asked questions

Why is a helicopter circling over my house?

A helicopter flying repeated circles at low altitude over a neighborhood is most often a police helicopter supporting officers on the ground, for example during a search or a pursuit. A TV news helicopter circling a scene looks similar. Click the red icon on the map to see the registration and type, which usually tells you who the operator is.

Can I track police helicopters in the USA?

Often yes. Most police helicopters flying around major US cities broadcast their position with ADS-B, so they appear on this helicopter tracker like any other aircraft. During sensitive operations some units transmit less or nothing at all, so a police helicopter you can hear is not always one you can see.

How do I know if a helicopter is a medical helicopter?

Medical helicopters usually fly in a straight line between a hospital and an accident scene or another hospital, and the type shown after clicking is often a Bell 407, Airbus H125, H130, H135 or H145. The registration or the photo often shows the name of an air medical program such as LifeNet, AirLife or Flight For Life.

If you want to follow airplanes as well, open the main flight radar, or watch arrivals and departures at Los Angeles International Airport and O’Hare Airport in Chicago.