He was an S.C. Pilot flying into NC, and for what it’s worth the area he was flying supplies into was, to put it in desktop GUI terms

CTRL-A and CTRL-SHIFT-DELETE

All the people clamoring to defend the lame fire chief against the defend just don’t get it.

This a world-class disaster area and if someone is willing to risk their own safety to get supplies to people in imminent threat of perishing themselves… that’s a good thing. Life isn’t a 0-risk game, and definitely not in an insane disaster area.

Then he should've approached the equivalent organisations in North Carolina, such as https://www.nc.gov/working/volunteer-opportunities/volunteer..., as linked from https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/10/01/rescu....

Asking volunteers to not just rush in and do things themselves without coordinating via the proper organisations set up for that purpose is standard for every disaster. For instance: https://matadornetwork.com/change/why-you-shouldnt-run-out-t...

> if someone is willing to risk their own safety

Except its not "their own safety".

If the guy crashes, or runs out of fuel, or has a mechanical fault, or, or .....

What happens then ?

Oh yeah, that's right, the professionals have to come scoop up the remains.

Its all fun and games playing the hero, until the fun stops.

I'm willing to believe he was flying according to FAA regulations, which includes flying a properly maintained and fueled aircraft and taking all applicable hazards into account. (This is the basic assumption of good faith. That and I presume he has a license which says he's able to operate his helicopter competently and safely.)

Is he trained in search and rescue? Flying into and landing in confined spaces? Assessing the suitability of disaster landing zones in terms of surface quality and debris?

None of that is part of the regular FAA-regulated private pilot training syllabus.

As the above poster said about training.

But also I suspect his insurance company would have a thing or two to say about operating in disaster areas.