I was supposed to post this Friday night, but ended up talking it through with a friend on the phone. Thanks for being there J, I really needed the strength you provided me that night. Anyway, the story:
Friday about 1 PM local time during a live broadcast of a police chase, two news choppers collided in mid-air and crashed to the ground. All four people on board were killed. This has absolutely rattled all of the Phoenix metro area, from what I understand, since in our market the pilots and cameramen on board were also, to some degree on air personalities reporting traffic and such. People who watched their regular broadcasts, although they did not actually know these people felt like they had lost loved ones. I guess it's like that when someone you have daily contact with passes on suddenly. The rumors about what actually happened have abounded, and we may never know the exact circumstances that led up to the crash. That's for the FAA to determine and is not truly a part of the blog.
I know that I was in shock and emotionally weirded out that this could even happen and spent most of Friday attempting to deal with my emotions from the shock. I didn't even watch either of these channels for news, but I still felt the loss. DBF knew these men personally and had even led one of them to the Lord. He's definitely grieving and will probably attend the service for his friend.
As far as the chase suspect that "caused the news choppers to be reporting it", he has been caught and had quite a variety of charges that he's facing. There is also the possibility that he may be charged in the helicopter crash, since AZ has a law that states something along the lines that a chase suspect is responsible for any and all damages, accidents and such that occur as a result of their fleeing from police. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about this law being applied in this situation, as IMNSHO the news choppers did not "need" to be filming this police chase, or any other one for that matter, and therefore are not directly caused by the chase, aside form the fact that it makes a good news draw, sinc ethe viewing public seems to have an affinity for watching this type of thing. Therefore, I struggle with the concept that this guy, who should be hung by his fingernails and other torturous parts for long periods of time, should be charged with murder as well. I guess some of this issue will be resolved when the FAA and NTSB and other alphabet soup agencies make their reports about what actually caused this tragedy.
If it was a mechanical failure, does that mean that whoever worked on the helicopter can also be charged? If it was pilot error, who's responsible??? If it was simply a fluke thing then who? Where should the charges start or stop? I just don't know, all I know is that the Phoenix metro area lost four men needlessly on Friday. Their families and loved ones are in my prayers, and I've signed their guestbooks accordingly, since that's all the condolences I know how to send, as I don't actually know them. Scott Bowerbank, Jim Cox, Craig Smith and Rick Krolak you will be missed!
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2 comments:
It was tragic news. I'm sorry for your DBF's loss.
I'm just catching up on blogs. I'm so sorry for your DBF and his loss. My father also personally knew three of the four through his many years in Phoenix journalism. Thank goodness for his Alzheimer's - he won't feel the loss as deeply as your DBF and those families. (((((hugs)))))
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