At Least 2 Dead After Two TV News Choppers Collide, Crash While Covering Car Chase in Phoenix

Fox News ^ | Friday July 27, 2007 | Milwaukee_Guy

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Phoenix — Two helicopters collided in midair and crashed while covering a police pursuit in central Phoenix Friday afternoon, killing at least two people. Both helicopters were news choppers from local television stations.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

[Bahbah]

That does not look good.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Choopers = Choppers

[ChocChipCookie]

Terrible news. The newscasters reporting this are barely able to hold it together.

[Abathar]

Ok, I have to ask... What are “Choopers?”

[eyespysomething]

Prayers up for all involved, prayers for the families of the deceased.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Crash location is “Indian School Park”.

[donna]

Two dead.

Local affiliate Channel 3 and local ABC channel 15 helicopters.

[Abathar]

It is sad, I have seen those things buzzing around here before flying back and forth following a story, you just know this had to happen eventually.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sad, but inevitable.

Live broadcasts of police chases just encourage a certain class of moron to lead one of his/her own, with all the resulting chaos and danger.

[weegee]

Is there chopper coverage of the accident from another network?

[Dead Dog]

When sharks cry.

[GitmoSailor]

This happened just a 1.5miles from my home.Jim this is the park that I met you at the rally earlier this year!!!!!....

[Abathar]

Well, there would have to be at least 2 more choppers out there somewhere I would guess... (cbs and fox)

[donna]

4 dead.

Pilot and photographer for each TV station.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

If it was you or me, there would be graphic video. The MSM may cover each other and hold back tape.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

WOW!

[eleni121]

Terrible and sad but there are way too many chopper newshounds.

Bottom line: We do not need to watch cop chases.

[weegee]

Police chases are a bad policy. Either stop the vehicle by any means necessary or cut him loose.

Too often a very lengthy chase ends when the runaway driver crashes into some innocent civilian. If it happened to me, I’d sue the city for engaging in the chase. The police could ram the runaway driver themselves but they don’t want the liability.

Sometimes they seem to enjoy the thrill of the chase. I saw a 20+ car chase in Boston over a purse snatching (I think the driver may have then stolen a car). He crashed it into an apartment building and got away on foot on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

[AppyPappy]

What a terrible irony.

[rottndog]

So instead of the TV audience getting to see a high speed car crash (let’s face it, that’s why they broadcast this crap), they get to see a helicopter crash...

[Milwaukee_Guy]

http://www.azfamily.com/

[weegee]

Bottom line: the police blotter shouldn’t be the basis of the local news report.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

“A KTVK T-V anchor tearfully told viewers that one of the helicopters was theirs, and that the pilot and photographer aboard were killed. KNXV-TV said the other helciopter was theirs.”

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/KTVKLNews20070727_helicopter-crash.b85476c7.html

[surely_you_jest]

So, in an effort to continue to sell advertising spots on the local news, four people in the hire of TV news bought the farm while trying to get shots of some cops chasing some miscreant.

I don’t know whether to be saddened, or to laugh.

[discostu]

And the other news choppers following the chase provide the live coverage. There’s something disturbingly hilarious about the whole thing, they all follow these car chases hoping for blood anyway, the reporters actually providing the blood is a punchline you can only get in reality. Prayers for the families, and a stern look to the others in the car chase profession (and the “news” organizations that encourage it), we all knew this was going to happen eventually.

[hunter112]

It was only a matter of time. I’m surprised it didn’t happen during the “Paris Hilton Goes Back to Jail” coverage.

[dfwgator]

As they say, “If it bleeds, it leads.”

[donna]

These are nice people who do traffic and monsoon reporting everyday. This is a tragedy.

[Doe Eyes]

so, in an effort to continue to sell advertising spots on the local news, four people in the hire of TV news bought the farm while trying to get shots of some cops chasing some miscreant.

Probably Liberals.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Here in Milwaukee one station hovered over my house, for an hour, taping a -High School Football Game-.

I called the station and pointed out what waste of gas it was, and if they didn’t get away from the residential area and hover over an empty field I was calling the FAA.

They were unapologetic but did move the chopper.

[G Larry]

Can’t believe this didn’t happen years ago in L.A.

Car chase sceens seem to happen about once a month out there.

[Mogger]

Everything we do in life has risk, especially mundane things such as walking downstairs, etc.

About the only thing I agreed with Jocylyn (sp?) Elders about was that, "sooner or later your're going to die of something anyhow."

[b4its2late]

It was just a matter of when.

[dfwgator]

Can’t believe this didn’t happen years ago in L.A.

I remember that Francis Gary Powers (of U2 Spy Plane fame) was killed in helicopter crash while doing a traffic report in LA.

[Ace's Dad]

They are supposed to fly at different altitudes, I believe.

[G Larry]

Yes, but that was a single chopper, not 2 colliding, if I recall correctly.

[freepertoo]

I didn’t know that.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

This has gone past Krazy !,,,

What if this had happened over a school or a mall?!?...

[no dems]

The Cable News Networks have been interviewing former copter newsmen/women.

It seems that the rush to be the first to get the story puts many helicopter reporters in peril. These two copters just got too close to each other. Tragic.

[HungarianGypsy]

Apparently the guy had already rammed into a police car as they were trying to block him. He had just stolen another vehicle and had kept from being blocked again when the report of "Helicopter down" came in. There were the two black spots and this sudden stillness on the air.

It was just irony that I even saw this. I use my DVD player as a cd player and was changing stations to put music on for my two year old to take a nap when I saw this chase. I don't watch these things, but for some reason I watched another minute or two. Then the helicopters collided.

[raccoonradio]

yes...this has happened before--WEEI news radio in Boston had a traffic report helicopter hit an apartment bldg (1970s?), killing the pilot and reporter and another traffic report helicopter crashed in NYC (somewhere online there is the anguished final words of the reporter: "hit the water hit the water!") wikipedia: On October 22, 1986, at 4:44 PM, while (Jane) Dornacker was giving one of (WNBC-AM)'s N-Copter traffic reports, the helicopter from which she was reporting plunged into the Hudson River from an altitude of roughly 75 feet. On her final radio broadcast she was giving a report of an accident involving a tractor trailer and a car as well as a car fire. She also stated that the outbound Holland Tunnel was heavy with traffic and that the Lincoln Tunnel was much better with traffic and a car fire. Dornacker was starting her report for incoming New Jersey traffic when the helicopter stalled in mid broadcast. The following is a transcript of the last minutes of her live broadcast in which the crash occurred: Dornacker: It has been cleared out, except heading to New Jersey, the outbound Lincoln Tunnel looks a lot better for you. In New Jersey ... * * Jane Dornacker (panicking): Hit the water! Hit THE WATER! HIT THE WATER!!! * * * Joey Reynolds: Okay, we're going to play some, uh, some music here, I think. * * Joey Reynolds: And find out what's going on with the helicopter, because something happened there.

[Jim Robinson]

Oh, wow. Prayers for their families.

[F15Eagle]

Yep. I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often, especially with the paparazzi. Hope nobody on the ground got hurt.

[F15Eagle]

Yikes. Yes, prayers.

[kcvl]

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/topstories_story_208155909.html

[SauronOfMordor]

Too often a very lengthy chase ends when the runaway driver crashes into some innocent civilian. If it happened to me, I’d sue the city for engaging in the chase. The police could ram the runaway driver themselves but they don’t want the liability.

If it's that important, pass legislation that allows use of deadly force when a car refuses to pull over. Then just have a police helicopter with a heavy machinegun saturate the car with lead. A few of those and the idiots will stop trying to get away

[wolfcreek]

Ditto............we had to know this might happen some day.

[kcvl]

It’s believed there were as many as five people aboard the two copters. News anchors reporting on the crash on KTVK appeared emotionally shaken.

[jmc813]

Prayers for all involved. That said, what is up with you west coast people and fleeing from the cops? I can count the number of car chases I’ve heard about here in Jersey on one hand.