Newscopter crash...

[RICHARD]

In Phoenix.


Two choppers collided trying to follow a low speed car chase.

Living in Lost Angeles a car chase is often followed by as many as 9 helicopters. Two from the police department and ther rest belong to news outlets..

It was only time before an accuident like that happened.

[Karen]

How sad. The pilots and their families will be in our prayers.

[RICHARD]

http://www.firehawkhelicopters.com/DSCN0416.JPG

Living two blocks away from a small regional airport this is really scary.

There are two local news choppers and a bunch of the smaller choppers that fly out that airport- To top it off there is the Los Angeles County Fire Dept's Air Operation Center is next door to that! They fly the Blackhawk helicopters back to the center at dusk.

You will hear the distant thump getting louder until it passes overhead.
It's so loud and percussive that the knick knacks in my mom's house need to be pushed back on the shelves once a month.

There are usually two accidents a year at this airport-Thank goodness no serious ones in a while.

This crash makes me nervous.

[Laura's Babies]

I would NOT want to live anywhere near a airport!

[lizbud]

What a terrible thing. Did anyone on the ground get hurt also?
I'm really kind of surprised this hasn't happened before. All the channels
seem to compete for the best news story footage.

[RICHARD]

The airport runways run North to South. I live to the West, So I just hear them most of the time. The news copters take off going in all directions-

I have learned my lessons about 'chasing crashes'. When I was a kid I went to the corner to meet my sister who was coming home from school. I heard a thump and saw smoke start to rise from where the plane hit.

Some friends and I ran to the spot and as I was running up to the building I came to the pilot's body, still in the seat, about 30 feet away....That spooked me for months afterwards.