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APSA's E-Newsletter is designed to help keep you informed on the very latest information in the airborne law enforcement industry. MSP Police Pilot & Crewmembers Die In Line Of Duty
The aircraft, Trooper 2, was traveling at about 60 knots, at an altitude of 700 feet, when it dropped off the radar at 11:57 p.m. on September 25. The helicopter went down in dense woods three miles north of Andrews Air Force Base, where the aircraft was rerouted because of bad weather. The other victims were Trooper First Class Mickey C. Lippy, 34, a MSP flight paramedic; Tanya Mallard, 39, an EMT-B with the Waldorf Rescue Squad; and a patient being transported. The surviving victim of the crash is hospitalized undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in the car accident and the subsequent helicopter crash. The helicopter crash, the worst accident in the history of Maryland's rescue helicopter program, prompted authorities to ground the fleet until air safety investigators make a preliminary finding on the cause. Until then, helicopters from the U.S. Park Police, Delaware and Pennsylvania state police, and commercial companies will cover the state, police said. MSP's medevac helicopters (11 remaining), based in locations scattered throughout Maryland, typically fly about 5,000 missions a year, said Col. Terrence B. Sheridan, superintendent of state police. Until last month, the fleet had logged about 90,000 flight hours over the past 20 years without a fatality or other major accident. SOURCE: www.baltimoresun.com Former Police Pilot Dies In Crash
Bland joined the Santa Ana Police Department shortly after graduating from flight school, following his father onto the force. He worked gang details in the 1980s and developed a reputation as a hard-working cop. Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, his former partner, said, "He was just a good guy. One of the best partners I ever had." Bland left the police department in 1986 to fly anti-drug missions for the U.S. Customs Service. He retired from law enforcement in 2007. SOURCE: www.ocregister.com Hurricane Ike Strikes Coastal Areas Hard
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Dudley said, “To see it first hand was unbelievable. It [television] really doesn't do it justice. Just the amount of destruction, to see the homes completely gone, it was just devastating. From talking to some of the local residents, they said it was the worst they'd ever seen,” he explained in a news report describing the areas near Galveston, where he and a group of DPS troopers were stationed shortly after Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf Coast on September 17. The Texas DPS had eight helicopters in the area for search & rescue and looter patrol. The U. S. Coast Guard performed many rescues with their aircraft. In the Houston area, the Houston Police Department Air Support Division was on full mobilization for 17 days and was launching up to 24 flights a day for FEMA POD (points of delivery) sites security, looter patrol and traffic flow monitoring. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sent two helicopters (an MD 500D and a Bell 407) to work with HPD and supplement their fleet. The DEA supplied the aircraft and pilots, and HPD supplied the TFOs. SOURCE: www.mineralwellsindex.com 10,000 Pot Plants Removed
In a separate operation, detectives raided an area in the Los Padres National Forest, resulting in the seizure of 1,680 plants. The bust is part of an ongoing effort of the sheriff's department to crack down on growers during the harvest season. SOURCE: www.atascaderonews.com Catching Speeders in Edmonton Area
Observers in the helicopters can monitor a large stretch of roadway and catch vehicles that cross a double yellow, centerline or pass on the right. They measure speed by looking at the amount of time it takes for a vehicle to pass certain markings on the road. They then report the vehicle to ground units, who pull the offending car over. It's safer for the officers because they don't have to chase the speeding car down, only intercept them later. The RCMP used helicopters for traffic control from the 1970s until 1995, then phased it out, said RCMP traffic Insp. James Stiles. "We feel this is an important tool," he added. "Some of that driving behavior out there is extreme, as it puts us all at risk." SOURCE: www.canada.com Sheriff's Helicopter Collides with Buzzard Two deputies flying a Manatee County (FL) Sheriff's Office helicopter had an unexpected encounter with a turkey buzzard when it smashed into the helicopter's windshield, shattering the glass, and struck a deputy in his chest. The collision's impact knocked the buzzard back out of the aircraft. At the time of the incident, the deputies had been flying a routine air patrol and were returning to the Sheriff's Office hangar. Neither deputy was injured. The helicopter's windshield and some damage to the instrument panel will be repaired. SOURCE: www.heraldtribune.com Oregon State Police Plane Crashes; No Injuries
Conditions were said to be clear and visibility unrestricted, according to Oregon State Police. The aircraft, which sustained damage to its under carriage and wing, was removed on a flatbed truck. SOURCE: www.oregonlive.com Hi-Tech Helicopter Welcomed
South Wales Police Chief Constable Barbara Wilding said in a news report, “Receiving this new helicopter is a quantum leap into the next generation of crime-fighting aircraft. It is far superior to the last helicopter in more ways than one.” The spotter scope and night vision system installed will allow police to spot and target suspects at greater distance than before, while a sophisticated camera will be used to film footage and take high-quality photographs from the air of suspects and incidents for future use as evidence in court. SOURCE: www.walesonline.co.uk Aircraft To Now Patrol Beijing
The helicopters are capable of monitoring 15 times the area of ground police, and in places where they are deployed, "robbery, theft and other street crimes will be reduced by 50 percent", Liu said. "They are the first helicopters in Beijing. We bought them not only for the Games, but to serve all people in the city," he continued. SOURCE: www.chinadaily.com Bell Delivers Huey II Helicopter to Kern County
Sheriff Donny Youngblood said, “This Huey II helicopter will increase our capability to transport law enforcement personnel (SWAT), conduct search and rescue operations and aid in environmental disaster operations across the wide spectrum of terrain found in the county.” Kern County Deputy Tim Melanson said the Huey would be used almost immediately for search and rescue, special team deployment, humanitarian aid and command and control. The airborne unit now has two fixed-wing airplanes and six helicopters. SOURCE: Bell Helicopter-Textron Arrest After Laser Pointed at Police Helicopter
Police want New Zealand to follow what is happening in Australia by banning possession of high-powered lasers and introducing a specific charge of laser pointing. Senior Constable Pilot Shane Gayley said Eagle was particularly susceptible to laser strike because it was operated at low altitude and pilots flew manually. The Air Support Unit is based on the Auckland waterfront and has been in operation since 1988. SOURCE: www.nzherald.co.nz/nz Aircraft To Help in Fire Suppression A Bell 412EP model medium lift helicopter is now in operation for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, joining "Copter One," a helicopter currently operated by the county's Air Support Division. Mayor Jerry Sanders remarked, “This new helicopter will be fully operational going into the dreaded Santa Ana fire season, starting very soon.” According to the city, Copter 2 can drop 375 gallons of water. While hovering over a lake, a pilot can refill its drop tank in 17 seconds. The Bell 412 helicopter, also equipped to perform rescues and transport patients, is the department's second firefighting copter and the fourth stationed permanently in the county. The Sheriff's Department has two helicopters, and the U.S. Forest Service deploys a fifth during fire season. SOURCE: www.signonsandiego.com/ Radio Host Donates Plane to Sheriff's Office
Chief Deputy Danny Billingsley long has wanted to re-establish the county's air patrol unit, which was disbanded in the late 1970s amid budget constraints. “In an ideal world, a helicopter probably would have come first, but this is a gift,'' said County Judge Ed Emmett, who originally expressed skepticism about the donation, but voted to accept it after being assured the plane would be part of a larger aviation unit. SOURCE: www.chron.com Initiative Aims to Reduce Crashes Involving Trucks
"The Ticket Aggressive Cars and Trucks initiative, or TACT, encourages safe driving behavior by those driving passenger cars and commercial vehicles," Acting State Police Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski said during a news conference at department headquarters. "We typically have a lot of trucks through this area and troopers have investigated more than 750 crashes involving commercial vehicles since 2003." TACT will use highway billboards, posters, safety awareness messages and brochures to educate drivers about the importance of sharing the road and steering clear of unsafe situations. State police will use marked and unmarked patrol vehicles and fixed-wing aircraft as part of the enforcement effort. SOURCE: www.state.pa.us Safety Seminar Coming to Montreal Later This Month! The Quebec Provincial Police Department will host the 2008 Canadian Region Safety Seminar in Montreal, Canada. The two-day event will take place October 22-24, 2008. Educational sessions planned include water survival, safety management systems, thermal imaging, crew resource management, laser assaults, hoist rescues and special teams deployment. You may register now by clicking http://archives.alea.org/public/seminars/canadian/cr_reg.aspx or by calling the APSA home office at 301-631-2406. Stay at San Antonio's Riverwalk and Rev Up Your Education! Hosted by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the San Antonio Police Department, please join us for two days of education and networking with your fellow airborne law enforcement professionals at the APSA Central Region Safety Seminar. The dates are November 5-7, 2008, in San Antonio, TX. Among the classes will be air traffic security, spatial disorientation/vertigo, aviation weather, protective equipment, CRM for airborne crews, airborne thermal imagery tactics, and more. You can register now athttp://archives.alea.org/public/seminars/central/ce_reg.aspx or call 301-631-2406 for more information. |
A Maryland State Police medical helicopter, carrying two victims of a traffic accident to a hospital, went down in a suburban Washington park. Four of the five people onboard died including the helicopter's pilot, Stephen Bunker, 59, a 24-year veteran of the state police aviation unit.
An airfield memorial paid tribute to a veteran pilot, James “Jim” Bland, 52, who died in a fiery crash that badly injured two celebrity musicians last month. Bland, a former Santa Ana (CA) Police Department pilot and APSA member, was the co-pilot of a Lear Jet 60 that skidded off a runway and crashed in South Carolina. The pilot died and the airplane's passengers were hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns.
Photos like this one taken near Galveston, Texas show the devastation from Hurricane Ike, which damaged thousands of homes and businesses in coastal communities in East Texas and southwestern Louisiana last month. Hurricane Ike was the ninth named storm and fifth hurricane this year. The storm hit the Texas coast as a Category 3 hurricane on September 13. Ike is blamed for at least 32 deaths in Texas alone. Essential services like power, water and fuel have taken days and weeks to restore.
The San Luis Obispo County (CA) Sheriff's Department's Narcotics Unit detectives netted more than 10,000 marijuana plants in illegal growing areas last month. The first illegal growing area resulted in the seizure of 9,030 plants with an estimated street value of $3,500 per plant, according to the SLO County Sheriff's Department. It took several hours for detectives to remove the plants by helicopter.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Edmonton Police Department used their helicopters to stop speeders and other dangerous drivers last month. The coordinated effort comes after ground units started to notice incredible speeds on the roadway.
An Oregon State Police airplane crashed on take-off in early September enroute to a bighorn sheep census in southern Oregon. Neither the pilot nor his passenger, a biologist from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, were injured when the 1981 Cessna A185F Skywagon II four-seat aircraft veered off-road while accelerating on a rough gravel road surface, striking several rocks.
South Wales Police in the United Kingdom unveiled a state-of-the-art EC 135T2I helicopter last month. The aircraft will be based in St. Athan and patrol the skies of South Wales, including the Gwent Police force area. The new aircraft is expected to speed up police response times to major incidents throughout the area.
Four helicopters, used during the summer's 2008 Olympic Games, will now patrol the skies of Beijing, China routinely. Those trapped in suburban mountainous areas or those who need urgent evacuation to hospitals, will be able to rely on the helicopters, Liu Guifang, deputy director of the city's special police unit, which will oversee the helicopter team, said. These "big electronic birds" will also be used for traffic control, ground support, high-speed car chases, evidence collection at accident sites and high-altitude photography, Liu said during a media visit to the helicopter base last month.
Bell Helicopter announced the delivery of a Bell Huey II helicopter to the Kern County (CA) Sheriff's Department's Air Support Unit last month. The helicopter will significantly enhance the ability of the sheriff's department to perform its wide ranging responsibilities that include surveillance flights, administrative transport, search and rescue and law enforcement patrol.
An Auckland man faces a jail term for allegedly pointing a high-powered laser at the New Zealand Police Air Support Unit's helicopter, Eagle. The man was located and caught by the same helicopter.
The Harris County (Houston, TX) Sheriff's Office soon could begin patrolling in a 1993 Maule MXT-7-180 airplane donated by a local talk radio host's anti-illegal immigration group (called Eyes on the Border). Commissioners voted to accept the donation last month, worth an estimated $90,000. The county can seek help from the Houston Police Department's Air Support Division on a case-by-case basis, but police say that would not have the same impact as their own routine patrols.
A busy stretch of Interstate 81 was the focus of a new initiative launched last month by the Pennsylvania State Police that aims to reduce accidents involving commercial trucks.
