The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to hold a public meeting in a few minutes this morning (7:30 a.m. Arizona time) in Washington, D.C., to discuss the 2007 crash of two Phoenix news helicopters that killed four local journalists. The board is broadcasting the proceedings live online, so you can tune in to watch the discussion.
By the end of the meeting, the NTSB plans to release its first comprehensive report on the crash. I’ll try to post the whole report here on HEAT CITY once I get it.
On July 27, 2007, journalists from several local television stations were watching from the sky as police officers on the ground chased a suspect through the streets of Phoenix. Deep into the pursuit, two news copters — one from KNXV-TV (Channel 15) and the other from KTVK-TV (Channel 3) — collided in mid air. They crashed into the middle a city park, killing a pilot and cameraman from each station. Channel 15’s pilot Craig Smith and cameraman Rick Krolak were killed, as well as Channel 3’s pilot Scott Bowerbank and cameraman Jim Cox.