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Aug 1, 2007 8:27 am US/Mountain
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What Are The Rules For News Helicopters?
DENVER (CBS4) ―
In Phoenix, viewers are joining in the mourning for four news staffers who died in the collision of two helicopters last Friday. Two pilots and two photographers were killed when somehow the helicopters got so close over a chase, they hit, then went down in a park.
CBS4 asked the Good Question: What are the rules for news helicopters?
Do pilots ever fly that close together in Denver, CBS4 asked Copter4 pilot Mike Mulvey.
"No," was the simple and short answer.
The pilots at the controls of the four news helicopters in Denver get together several times a year and talk. They work out a system of cooperation, knowing that they have to stay safe and do their jobs.
"We have developed an informal agreement among ourselves regarding how we handle ourselves when we're flying around Denver," says Mulvey.
Generally, when the helicopters are below 8,000 feet and not with 10 nautical miles of Denver International Airport, or five of other airports, they are on their own and not required to communicate their positions with the airport control towers.
They are also not allowed in other places - a patchwork of spots on the metro area map. Aircraft are restricted over Coors Field or Mile High Stadium during games for example.
Mulvey and the other pilots - including the fixed wing aircraft used by radio stations for traffic reports - have their own system over the scene of an incident.
"Right now, the protocol is whomever is first over the scene declares that he's there and whatever altitude that he chooses to be at," Mulvey said.
Being close isn't as important as it once was, with the quality of cameras improving over the years. Long lenses, steadied by gyroscopic devices can allow shots from miles away.
Luan Akin, CBS4's Copter4 reporter, points out that it's not as important to be first at a scene, but to be able to orient herself with the streets and landmarks when she gets there.
"The first one will declare that he is there and whatever altitude he is at," Mulvey said. "As the other pilots arrive, they will pick other altitudes to accommodate the first one there."
As they do their work, the others will move in and take turns if necessary.
"After the first guy has arrived and taken his pictures, he will announce you know 'I'm done with my hits I don't have anything for another 10 minutes' or whatever," Mulvey said. "They will vacate and allow the person that has asked to get in there to get down to take pictures for their TV station."
In Phoenix the scene was a chase. It gets more difficult. But generally, the same rules apply. Pilots declare altitudes and communicate positions. They watch the scene and the other aircraft.
Akin and videographer David Gregg have more than 55 years of experience working in Copter4.
"We always have our eyes out too, when we are in transit from one place to another," says Gregg.
During the flight for this story, Akin pointed out another news helicopter to Mulvey. He often knows already where they are, but redundancy is never a problem. In the helicopter you'll hear phrases like, "What goes around comes around."
It's far different than the pictures of news people at news conferences or big events at which there can be pushing and shoving. That cannot happen in the air. Competition is a real factor in the news business, but as Akin says, some things have to be set aside.
"There may be times when and one of us will say we need to get that, we need to go there. But it's not at the expense of flying safely. We need to try to get that on camera, on tape, but as David says, no story is worth dying for."
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