Jaynjess

I'm absolutely sure helicopters or airplanes CAN be operated below 500' altitude. That would be the height above ground level. They can be 1 foot off the deck & moving....as long as they are 500' AWAY from a person or structure in a sparsely (= country) area. Again, structures are man-made, so trees don't count. Helicopters can be lower & closer if they're maneuvering to land or hover. Airplanes can be lower if they are in fact landing. Neither of these rules includes ag operations. Obviously fw & rw can both go below 500' there. Again...500' vertically (over the top of your head), or 500' laterally (on the deck, but 500' away from your body) doing a fly-by.

If a plane or helicopter (other than ag) hits something while lower than this, they'll likely get tagged for "careless & reckless operation.....", assuming they live.