[UPDATE 6:39 p.m.] Army Chinook Helicopter Draws Attention During Flight Over North Coast
FROG87 flying low near Garberville. [Photo from Grace Johnston]
Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 identifies the aircraft as FROG87, a U.S. Army Boeing MH-47G Chinook helicopter. According to the publicly available tracking information, the flight originated in Bakersfield, where it departed earlier in the day. On January 8, it flew out of Midlands, TX according to this Facebook post.
FlightRadar24 shows FROG87 passing near Willits at approximately 2:30 p.m., before continuing north. The helicopter was later observed over Rio Dell around 3:15 p.m.
The MH-47G Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter typically used by the U.S. Army for transport missions, including moving personnel, equipment, and supplies. The model usually handles long-range flights and is capable of operating at low altitudes, which can make it particularly noticeable to people on the ground.
No destination was listed for the flight, and no additional mission details were publicly available through the tracking data.
Military aircraft flights through Northern California are not uncommon, and FlightRadar24 data does not indicate the purpose of individual missions.
The FlightRadar24 tracking page for the aircraft can be found here:
https://www.flightradar24.com/FROG87/3ddd37ed
As always, information based on flight tracking reflects publicly available data and may not provide a complete picture of military operations.
UPDATE 6:39 p.m.: A 14-year-old plane spotter, Tristin Blaine, sent us this photo of FROG87 at the Arcata Airport.
FROG87 at the Arcata airport. [Photo from Tristin Blaine]
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Equipment movement / training exercises is sometimes a sign of things to come
It’s probably an ICE team getting ready for Operation Redwood.
Or Smart soldiers looking busy.
Thank you for the info tidbits, Kym. I knew we could rely on you!
Another sighting of possibly the same (or another) giant double-bladed beast this afternoon approx 3:15 over Garberville.
You are apt to point out FlightRadar24 – & if I had not been preoccupied I would’ve confirmed the chopper’s identity. It was flying Low and Fast.
Same over humboldt bay between eureka and arcata today about 3:15 pm
That thing gave me the creepin’ willies given what’s happening around the US. Immediately thought they might be headed to Portland.
You’ve got to be kidding? If that is where your mind goes just because a helicopter passes over then you have a paranoia problem & need to see a therapist ASAP.
More likely Ft. Lewis-McChord, training base for US Army 1st Special Operations Group, near Olympia.
Keep the paranoia on full blast y’all!!
HES REFUELING AT ARCATA AIRPORT GET YOUR PROTEST SIGNS AND CRAYONS QUICK!!
It might help to throw your bottles of schizophrenia medication at them as well!!
Hehehe
Or did they stop to use the bathroom. That used to happen when I worked on a Forest Service Helitack crew on the Eldorado NF, usually the National Guard getting their training hours in. I think we’re going to be okay on this one!
The Chinook helicopter flew very low over Laytonville @2:45. It flew pretty close to over the highway and right over town.
I was thinking that it must be some official helicopter, because if it was civilian somebody would have been complaining to the FFA.
Maybe it is Pete Hegseth touring the redwoods.
LOL, there is nothing worse than a bunch of pissed off Future Farmers of America. (FFA)
I meant FAA… (Federal Aviation Administration)
I hate acronyms.
Bet the FAA doesn’t have the cool corduroy jackets though!
I wish my husband still had his.
😂 😂
I heard it was him and Ronald Reagan fresh out of retirement
I heard it over Myers Flat this afternoon. I did not go out to look.
During the 64 flood I saw two of these land at the same time in the yard at Bridgeville school.
The airport in Garberville was our lifeline during the ’64 flood. We were totally cut-off from everything. We were doing great until the Civil Defense arrived…
Ernie, the Moody Bridge was inoperable during the 1964 flood. Making the Garberville Airport not accessible. My Dad lead many convoys in and out of Garberville using Bell Springs Road.
Government employees who worked at the Eureka Unemployment Office were transported by helicopter to the Garberville Airport and driven to Garberville to payout unemployment insurance benefits during the 64 flood.
And my point was, they could not use the Moody Bridge to get to and from the Garberville Airport because the bridge was out.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-6p87kvVtfW51MhlVZvxQ8RHr4gGLh5Y/view?usp=sharing
Maybe I should have said AFTER the 1964 Flood. My sister-in-law was flown out of the airport to get back home in Utah.
During the 1964 Christmas flood, vehicle travel between Garberville and the Garberville Airport was severely disrupted for approximately one week for general relief, with some areas remaining restricted to specialized vehicles for longer.
The restoration of access followed this general timeline:
While some local roads were cleared quickly by Safeway truck drivers and volunteers using heavy equipment, full vehicle connectivity to the “outside world” from the Garberville area took months to stabilize due to the hundreds of smaller slides and washouts that continued to plague the region.
Kym, you gathered all this information instead of what?
Meaning what? So what? Fill in the blank, that’s what. A big Chinook chopper cruising our far-flung communities at low altitudes, with little public information is of high interest to all.
It is hardly anything rare. One flys over my neighborhood north west of Willits at least once a year.
We’re always posting about the blimp up here. That’s not rare, we usually see it once a year. But we still like to talk about it.
Meaning, there are still people in Southern Humboldt, who think they are still living in the 80’s and 90’s during CAMP, and any helicopter that fly’s over there “far-flung communities” means something bad for them. Its called being paranoid and RHBB is playing into that paranoia:
Dave’s not here, man…
Boeing product?
Duck.
Old Boeing products are fine.
Thank you for the update. I forwarded your article to a few people who asked me about the incident. Passed right over my house in Miranda low.
Ed Voice doesn’t, apparently, think it’s important. Well, it’s a free country, for now. What’s the current status on that? Ooooops, tricky issue. Ed can not think whatever he doesn’t want to think We’re trying to stay civil and mellow.
It really isn’t important in the slightest.
Here’s a little more info. (BTW, the chopper can also support Navy SEAL missions).
“The MH-47G is a specialized heavy-lift variant operated by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers) for high-risk missions, including the transport of special operations personnel and equipment. While its flight through Northern California drew public attention, no specific destination or mission details were listed in the public tracking data”. (AI)
SOAR 160th supports all SOF teams. They’re the best of the best when it comes to helicopter operations.
This was posted a couple of weeks ago. (2) Humboldt County History | Facebook
Could just be a pilot building his hours.
Smoking marijuana can make you paranoid. A lifetime of smoking marijuana can lead to a lifetime of paranoia.
Or a lifetime of smoking Marijuana and having lived on the epicenter of Cannabis cultivation all those years can make you impervious to the sound of helicopters so you aren’t paranoid or even alerted by the sound of helicopters ever again.
I mean, who gives a flying F if a helicopter fly over at low altitude. I’ve had them hover looking into my house while I’m helping my kids with homework & it never bothered me a bit, despite the 400 plants that were right outside my house.
OR… it could be associated with the 6th branch of Military [Space Force] as I observed last October 2025 after hearing report of an UAP in Redwood Vly involving a metalic Sphere I saw military helio teetered to giant triangle [escorted] headed to Laughlin Ridge then fading out [cloaked]. there’s more…
Or hovering over the hot tubs in Arcata. At high altitude, of course.
Depends on the grower
Goddamn disturbing the Peace
The MH-47G is operated by one unit and one unit only. This helicopter is part of SOAR-160th. This is certainly a training flight. Come on y’all do some research.
A good chance it was flying back to Fort Lewis WA after participating in the mission in Venizwala. The 160th was involved in that.
They own the night
Sunday they flew north, over Brooktrails.
I heard they are flying Bob Weir up and down the west coast before laying him to rest.
I used to work at the coastie air station. Most of the military aircraft cruising low and scaring us half to death are simply pilots just enjoying the scenery on their “airways trainer” up the coast. They’d pull in to ACV specifically for their fuel because it meets their needs and specifications. Also it is the only one capable of supporting them for a long ways. We are quite remote in case you didn’t notice. However, they might be up to no good. If that is the case then they’ll need suvs to transport them. They wont bring them in by aircraft. Too expensive and I don’t think our airport has a runway long enough for heavy lift aircraft. They will be driven in or rented. Our Humboldt folks are quite capable of reporting vehicle convoys. I’ve got you covered on the latter.