Which then brings up an entirely new issue. There may not necessarily be clear cut rules when it comes to whether or not a helicopter should be in the air. (As I mentioned before...in my area...fog is not a factor in grounding helicopters. The only reason helicopters don't fly in my area...during severe thunderstorms, VERY strong wind events, and during major snowstorms). But we also don't have mountains, hills, or skyscrapers to worry about. Without those...fog doesn't present much of a hazard when in the air, since there's nothing for you to hit. That may be different in as you get closer to the suburbs closer to the city that have taller buildings and then in the city where there are skyscrapers. But where I live...at the height helicopters fly...there isn't anything tall enough to fly into. All of our buildings, power line poles, water towers, etc...are below the minimum flight height. Therefore, flying in foggy conditions isn't as much of a risk.
Even if there aren't clear cut regulations on flying in poor weather...someone still has to make a judgement call. The police made a judgement call to ground their helicopters due to that same fog. Whereas whoever authorized Kobe's helicopter to takeoff...also made a judgement call and deemed it appropriate to fly. If there aren't clear cut regulations...there probably will be soon.
