Every red icon on this map is a helicopter that is airborne right now and transmitting its position. Aeroplanes are hidden, so what you see is pure helicopter traffic: air ambulances, police units, offshore shuttles, news crews, corporate flights and training machines. Click any icon to see its callsign, registration, type, altitude, speed and heading, plus the place it is flying over and often a photo.
The map opens over central Europe, but you can zoom out to see helicopters across the whole world, or zoom in on a single city to follow one machine street by street. Use the search box to type a callsign, a registration or a type such as H145, or simply type the name of a town to jump straight there.
Why helicopters are harder to track than airliners
An airliner at 35,000 feet can be heard by receivers hundreds of kilometres away. A helicopter rarely has that luxury. Most work between a few hundred and a few thousand feet, and their signal travels in a straight line, so buildings, hills and the curve of the earth block it long before it reaches a distant antenna.
Flight Safety Australia puts it plainly: a helicopter at 1,000 feet in a valley is unlikely to be within line of sight of a ground receiver. That is why a helicopter can look perfectly normal over a city centre, then vanish as it drops towards a hospital roof. When that happens the map keeps it moving on its last course for a few minutes as an estimated position, then removes it.
What ADS-B is and where the map data comes from
ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast. The helicopter works out its own position from satellite navigation and broadcasts it, with its identity, altitude and speed, on 1090 MHz about once a second. Unlike classic radar, nothing has to interrogate the aircraft first. Anyone with a suitable antenna can pick up the messages, and a worldwide network of receivers feeds them to this map.
The consequence is simple: the map shows what is transmitted and received. A helicopter without an ADS-B transponder, or one flying below the horizon of every nearby receiver, does not appear, however loud it is over your house.
Where helicopter traffic is busiest
Zoom out and a few places stand out at almost any hour. São Paulo has the largest civil helicopter fleet of any city in the world, with hundreds of machines shuttling between rooftop helipads, so it is a good place to start if you want a busy screen. New York and Los Angeles combine police, news, tourist and corporate flying, and London shows a steady stream of air ambulance, police and business traffic along the Thames.
The offshore energy industry creates a different pattern. South of Houston, over the Gulf of Mexico, heavy helicopters fly long straight lines between the coast and oil and gas platforms far out at sea.
The helicopter types you will see most often
The type field in the popup tells you a lot about what a helicopter is doing. The Airbus H135 and H145 are the workhorses of emergency medical services, search and rescue and police work; German operator DRF Luftrettung alone flies one of the largest H145 fleets anywhere. The Bell 407 and Bell 429 are common with police, air ambulance and corporate operators, especially in the Americas. The Leonardo AW139 is a mid-size twin used for offshore transport, rescue and government flying.
The Sikorsky S-92 was designed with offshore oil and gas in mind, and its biggest users are offshore operators such as Bristow, CHC and PHI. An S-92 heading out to sea is almost certainly a crew change flight to a platform.
How to read callsign, registration and altitude in the popup
Callsign is what the crew uses on the radio. Many helicopters simply fly under their registration, while air ambulance, police and offshore operators often use a company or unit callsign. Registration is the helicopter’s number plate and its prefix tells you the country: N for the United States, G for the United Kingdom, D for Germany, PR, PP, PS or PT for Brazil.
Altitude is given in feet. A machine hovering at 500 to 1,500 feet over a city is typically police, news or air ambulance work. One at 3,000 feet or more on a steady heading is usually in transit. Route and flight time fields stay empty, because helicopters do not fly published schedules the way airliners do.
Why a helicopter is sometimes not on the map
If you hear rotors overhead and see nothing on the screen, there are three likely reasons. The helicopter may be flying too low for any receiver to hear it, which is normal in hilly country and behind tall buildings. It may have no ADS-B transponder, still the case for some older or very light machines. Or it may be a military or police aircraft that is not transmitting.
Military helicopters are the big gap. In the United States, for example, the Department of Defense has held exemptions that let aircraft on sensitive missions fly without broadcasting ADS-B, and other countries have similar arrangements. Police helicopters sometimes transmit less during operations. This map shows what is transmitted, not everything that flies.
Frequently asked questions
Can you track helicopters on flight radar?
Yes, as long as the helicopter is fitted with an ADS-B transponder and is within range of a receiver. This page filters out aeroplanes and shows only helicopters. Click an icon to see its type, registration, altitude and speed. Very low flights and some military and police machines do not appear because their signal is not received or not transmitted.
Why is the helicopter above me not showing on the map?
The most common reason is altitude. Helicopters often fly so low that hills, buildings or the horizon block the signal before it reaches a receiver. The helicopter may also have no ADS-B equipment, or it may be a military or police aircraft that is not broadcasting during an operation. Try again a few minutes later, as it may reappear once it climbs.
How do I find out which helicopter type I saw?
Zoom the map to your location and click the nearest red icon. The popup shows the type, for example H145 or AW139, together with the registration and usually a photo. If you noted the registration, type it into the search box and the map will take you straight to that helicopter if it is currently transmitting.
If you also want to follow airliners and other fixed-wing traffic, switch to our full flight radar, or read how Flightradar24 compares with the live map on this site.