Hightown Helicopter Activity
Transponder-derived tracks of helicopter flights beginning and ending near the Orrell Hill Lane landing site (within about 5 km). Pass-through traffic is excluded.
Latest flight: --
What this records
Inclusion ruleIncluded
A flight is included when a helicopter or rotorcraft is first seen within about 5 km of the Orrell Hill Lane landing site, may travel away on a wider loop, and is then last seen within the same area. Most included tracks are complete round trips from the site; some are single arrival or departure legs whose other end lay beyond reception.
Excluded
Aircraft passing through without starting or ending near Orrell Hill Lane, and any recording cut off mid-flight.
Data & times
Publicly broadcast transponder data; all times UTC.
Observed Helicopters
Observed at this siteFlight Log
All times UTC| Aircraft | First seen | Last seen | Tracked | Points |
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About this site
Background
Commercial operation
The flights from this site are commercial pleasure flights sold to the public, advertised and bookable online as "Liverpool Helipad" flights through Adventure 001 and resellers. This is not occasional private use — it is a recurring, ticketed commercial operation beside a residential village.
History
Residents have been raising concerns about helicopter operations from the Orrell Hill Lane site since at least 2018. Complaints have been made to Sefton Council, the Civil Aviation Authority, and through the local MP. The issue has involved multiple operators and aircraft over the years. Despite repeated engagement with all available authorities, no resolution has been achieved.
How It Works
Data collection
ADS-B transponder data
The aircraft shown here broadcast ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) or related transponder data, including altitude and identity. Some broadcast their own satellite-derived positions; others carry Mode-S-only transponders, whose positions are reconstructed by multilateration across a network of receivers and are less precise. These radio signals are publicly receivable by anyone with a suitable antenna, and this is the same class of data used by flight tracking services such as Flightradar24 and ADS-B Exchange.
Automated logging
A local receiver logs the position of monitored aircraft every three seconds. A published flight must be a helicopter or rotorcraft whose visible track starts and ends within about 5 km of the Orrell Hill Lane landing site. When the position signal is lost for more than two minutes the track is closed; brief mid-flight dropouts are bridged rather than counted twice, and a recording cut off mid-flight is not published.
Open data
All flight data shown on this site is derived entirely from publicly broadcast signals. No private information is collected or disclosed. Download the public data.json.