Helicopters, news gathering and lives lost

Don Day July 30th, 2007

Four of our colleagues died last week. They died doing what they loved - covering news. We all love it, but most of us don’t have to take the kind of risk Scott Bowerbank, Jim Cox, Craig Smith, Rick Krolack and their airborne colleagues across the country must take each day. The crash raises many questions, some of them uncomfortable. Why do we cover car chases? Why do we need five helicopters in the air? Why are pilots asked to do so much at once? Should the person who instigated the chase on the ground be charged in the death of the people in the air?

That first item is one of endless debate of course. The simple reason to cover them is that a high speed chase drives ratings. Are they of news value? Sure, some. But the folks most affected by a car chase are in their cars - not near televisions.

On the day of the crash, five news helicopters were in the air: KTVK/Independent, KSAZ/Fox, KPNX/NBC, KNXV/ABC and KPHO/CBS. Each had to do a delicate balancing act as they worked to bring back live pictures of the chase. Each station also must put out millions to keep the choppers flying throughout the year. Think of the dollars saved, the time saved - and maybe even lives saved if stations in large markets pooled their helicopter resources. If one pool helicopter were in the air that day last week instead of five, this likely would not have happened.

Several Phoenix stations did stories about how much helicopter pilots in that market must do at once. Fly the chopper, communicate with the tower, communicate with other helicopters, communicate with producers, talk to anchors and follow the “action.” It takes an enormous amount of focus and dedication to do all that - but is it too much for one person? Perhaps.

Moments after the accident, one of the Phoenix anchors said they felt the person responsible for the chase should be held liable for the crash. Police haven’t ruled out charges against Christopher J. Jones in connection with the helicopter crash.

Former newspaper columnist Allan D. Mutter has some strong words on the use of choppers in news gathering:

Apart from the lives of the newsmen lost in helicopter crashes over the years, it costs no less than $1 million a year to operate a modest-sized news chopper carrying a crew of two, according calculations based on information published at Helinews.Com. That’s enough money to hire 10 to 15 journalists to develop real stories.

If this latest accident finally causes the industry to wise up and ground its extravagant fleet of noisy and air-polluting helicopters, then the grieving families of the Phoenix newsmen would have the modest comfort of knowing their loss wasn’t in vain.

No ratings number, not profit margin, no “big get” is ever worth the life of a human being - let alone four.