So the “snipers” waited until dark? Really? How far is this story of yours going to go? If you were a pilot, and I have no reason to doubt it, then you know very well that little flashes won’t be seen so well, and if the aircraft were close enough to see them then they would have some holes.
I think the entire BS story was concocted by drama queens looking for action and used to confiscate weapons.
As you well know, people on the ground rarely lead when shooting at aircraft. They have nothing to gauge how fast the plane or chopper is moving. They aim at the chopper never thinking the forward movement will cause them to miss. Also they rarely use measuring equipment to verify the distance of their target. Without using tracers it’s damn near impossible to hit an aircraft that’s more than 1000 feet away from you.
I have no difficulty understanding why the birds took so few hits.