Pilots of television news helicopters would be required to take an extra reporter on every flight under stricter new rules proposed yesterday by the National Transportation Safety Board. Additionally, news helicopters would have to undergo extra upgrades and standards meant to help them avoid collisions like the one that killed four Phoenix journalists in 2007.
At a meeting of the board yesterday in Washington, D.C., members agreed on recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration place a raft of new rules on helicopters in general, and an extra set of restrictions on those that are used gather news.
An investigation by the NTSB determined that pilots Craig Smith with
KNXV-TV (Channel 15) and Scott Bowerbank with KTVK-TV (Channel 3) were
distracted by a police chase they were trying to cover on the ground
when they collided in mid-air. Because of this, the board decided that
requiring stations to put a reporter in the air would allow the pilots
to concentrate on their own surroundings and hopefully avoid similar
collisions in the future. Also killed in the crash were photographers
Rick Krolak and Jim Cox.
It’s unclear at this point what affect such restrictions would
have on television news outlets. I’ll try to gauge the reaction of
local outlets in the coming weeks and find out.