Thu, Jan 30, 2003
It may have been a proper use of Police Department
assets, or maybe not; but the FAA is on the case of a Tampa (FL)
Police helicopter pilot, for his part in a Super Bowl celebration
Monday, in the winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers' home field, Raymond
James Stadium.
Everybody in town wanted to celebrate, and the PD wanted to make
a big splash, in front of some 65,000 who gathered there to
celebrate their team's win, so they brought one of the department's
helis. Two cops rappelled to the ground, as the chopper
hovered.
The FAA says the PD didn't get the required waiver.
Christopher White, FAA spokesman in Atlanta (GA), told, ANN,
"We're not addressing the 'security' issue. We're examining whether
the maneuver was safe."
Empirical evidence suggests it was safe (nobody got hurt); but,
either the FAA does require the waiver, or it does not.
There should not be too much to investigate. If the PD required a
waiver, the pilot should be busted, just as the FAA should bust any
other pilot who violated the rule. If the PD did not require a
waiver, the FAA should be doing something else.
Absent anything other than subjective judgment, it's likely the
FAA will give the cops a pass. Whether the taxpayers think this
exhibition is a good use of their money, is an election-day
question, though nobody's too worried. A local television station's
poll question ("Do you think the Super Bowl win was the biggest
thing to happen in the Tampa area, ever?") received
87% "yes" votes.
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