News helicopter restrictions in the USA

[Creaser]

I remember reading of draconian measures still in force 5 weeks after 9/11 banning flight in class B airspace to everyone but news helicopters.

A news helicopter could be flown on a private flight but no reporting could take place on that flight.

2 months later a waiver was introduced to allow news helis to fly but prohibited news helis from hovering or circling!


What is the current state of play in the USA?


Creaser

[B Sousa]

Where have you been hiding. That did occur but many years ago..........Life is as normal now as the government allows.

[rudestuff]

Sure, there would have been some restrictions 5 weeks after 9/11 (or as we say in Europe - 11/9) However, its now been 5 YEARS since that date.

Is there still smog and rationing in London?!

In most Class B airspace you can pretty much do what you want if you ask nicely for it (Pittsburgh are particularly friendly - often holding big jets on 3 runways while the monthly gas inspection zips across the field low-level), the exception being the Washington DC ADIZ (flight plan, transponder code required) and in Particular the FRZ Flight Restricted Zone around the important stuff in DC (but you can get a waiver if you absolutely have to.) Having said that, the ADIZ is a joke as far as security goes - it was only supposed to be temporary. pain in the arse. can't wait for it to be scrapped.

[MSP Aviation]

well, not ALL is back to normal post-9/11. there's still a "temporary" :rolleyes: ADIZ (air defense identification zone). ADIZ is what we have around our border, designed to identify international aircraft before they actually enter US airspace. one GA airport near DC still had the lock and key on it until pretty recently.

[rotorfan]

Not applied specifically to Class B airspace, but we still have TFRs (Temporary Flight Restrictions) that apply to large gatherings of people, typically outdoor sporting events. As usual, the troublemakers ruin things for the rest... :suspect:

[Creaser]

So things aren't quite back to normal in the states.

In UK the zones are pretty much the same as pre 9/11 we already had three specific zones in Central London that require particular permissions in advance.

What has changed is the rapid and frequent activation of air exclusion zones to keep media helicopters out, but at great inconvienience to everyone else.

A recent one closed a heliroute and was put up for over three weeks. The incident? a police arrest of terrorist suspects and the subsequent search of their modest suburban home.


For some police activity such as involving terrorists on the run, live pictures can endanger lives, but for large scale incident one hopes an air exclusion zone would not be put up as a knee jerk reaction.

The first thing mentioned on every disaster planning guide is "listen to the local media" a helicopter gives the local media a heads-up to scale.

For example, hours after Katrina had blown through, Jackson's WLBT news heli had overflown Gulf Port at sunrise and the pictures were online to the world before government or military photographic recon assets were even launched.

When the exclsuion zone went up over New Orleans, mainly as an aide to air traffic control due to the scores of rescue helicopters operating, a "pool" news heli was allowed. This was sensible.

Compare that to UK policing of the large explosion and oil fire that occured on a Sunday morning in London early this year, the air exclsion zone was five miles yet reporters and public on the ground were within 1 mile.
The busiest the airspace became was single police heli surveying the scene at close quarters. An industrial park next to the blast was badly effected. Some decent closeups of the damaged buildings would have been a service to buisness owners and their employees whilst reassuring the public that the fire was contained to the plant as well as communicating and documenting the problems the fire service encountered fighting the fire, the dynamics and scale of which were beyond the public's experience.

In the USA I wonder if any special arrangements are planned to enable media helicopters to operate in any future incidents?
If the current response is anything to go by in the UK, plans are designed to exclude the media and now even used in non terror related incidents. Early this year even a car crash had an air exclusion zone!

Delayed transmission and news blackouts are methods of operation that protect victims and police. This cooperation enables ground cameras to document events, it can also be adopted for aerial news as well.


Creaser

[headsethair]

A recent one closed a heliroute and was put up for over three weeks. The incident? a police arrest of terrorist suspects and the subsequent search of their modest suburban home.
To be fair to DAP/AUS (the CAA branch that draws up the TRAs in the UK) they corrected this one within a day and permitted movements on the affected route (H4). However, your basic premise is correct - that particular TRA was a complete knee-jerk which can only have been based on (flawed) intelligence.

You may have noticed the new wording on TRA NOTAMS "owing to a matter in the public interest". This is an interesting and confusing term. According to the ANO a TRA can only be established for matters of national security or public safety.

The current TRA for Crowborough has been extended to 25/9 and has been in place since 1/9 "owing to a matter in the public interest".

In other areas of the UK media "in the public interest" conveys the meaning that the media have the right to cover such a story !

[Twiddle]

The H4 TRA was even more amazing as it only excluded Helis travelling in one direction.....