US TV Choppers Crash Covering Car Chase

Four people have died after two US newscopters crashed while covering a car chase in Arizona. Two pilots and two cameramen lost their lives doing their job.

Three other news helicopters were in the sky, all five were broadcasting the chase live. The actual crash wasn't witnessed live, as the two involved in the collision were looking at the ground and then lost signal on impact. One of the men apparently said "Oh geez" before the pictures went. I hate to imagine how their colleagues and familys felt seeing those images.

You can watch one of the channel's coverage here: http://www.azfamily.com/video/localnews-index.html?nvid=162389. To be honest I was expecting coverage to be a lot more sombre, there's no indication they've switched into obituary mode and some reporters seem to be unfazed.

Online report from other station: http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3440f3ba-b741-47ee-948b-d82997dcdeda

Incidentally, under state law the driver of the car being chased could be charged with the death of the four as collateral damage.

As a student journalist in the Phoenix area, my condolences are with the news teams of the two TV stations, and I fully believe the suspect of the stolen vehicle that was in the police chase needs to be held responsible for the deaths of those 4 fine news industry workers.

Umm...
So,the stolen truck driver should be held responsible for four deaths, rather than ignoring the fact that one of the helicopter pilots made a miscalculation on the speed and angle of his flightpath that led to this tragic ACCIDENT.
Why do some people have to pin the blame on someone, when it's obvious that something like this could have happened when multiple channels go chasing nicked cars/trucks for the varacious appitite of the US local tv news shows.

It's terrible that 4 people in the industry had to die covering what I consider a minor story, but the fingerpointing and blame pinning is not a good way to remember these guys and the contribution they made to the tv news industry in Arizona.

Its ashame that they crashed, not sure if this is the time to ask - but what is the US's obsession with doing live coverage of car chases where people can get hurt if / when they crash.

I couldn't possibly comment or lay the blame on anyone because I did not see the accident. But it does seem rather silly how they can't take a feed from a police helicopter or something.

i have no problem with "joyriders" or "stolen car suspects" crashing the car and killing themselves but to blame them for this is just plain mad ,

They didn't force any of the news crews to follow them

I would have to agree with you Gallunach, the news media take decisions to cover stories and on this occasion they decided to use choppers. If something happens in the sky how can that be down to someone (admittedly no angel) stealing a car on the ground.

This bit is from the BBC News website, and I found it quite worrying:



so they actually get a message on their pager every time some lunatic is driving at 200mph down the interstate and that WJSVATSJCYSMSYS 276 is broadcasting live footage of it using its "HyperCopter 14000"?

I understand that the British users on this forum probably don't understand the US system of news, so I am not going to erupt into anger here, as I did on another forum.

The thing is, because of this stolen car suspect, 4 people died. Whether he directly caused it or not is another story. His actions did make someone die. I am screaming for blood, as others are doing at the same time.

I used to work for KTVK.

BTW, for a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how helicoper newsgathering in the US operates, the last episode of Michael Palin's Full Circle is interesting; it has Palin in a news helicopter above Los Angeles.

I always thought you were English. I never thought you were American!