CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Police helicopter: Review in order
Chief is being prudent in seeking advice on how Topeka police should operate copter unit
The Capital-Journal Editorial Board
Published Monday, January 05, 2009
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation has determined the pilots weren't responsible for causing the April 5 crash of a Topeka Police Department helicopter at Washburn University.
The NTSB, in a report released last month, attributed the crash to a mechanical malfunction and an encounter with a light pole during an emergency landing attempted as a result of the malfunction.
File Photograph / The Capital-Journal
The city owns this Schweizer 300C helicopter, but it was already on backup status when the newer copter crashed.
Topeka Police Chief Ron Miller doesn't dispute the board's findings on the cause of the crash, but he didn't need the report to prompt him to reconsider how the department selects and trains its pilots and whether changes are warranted.
Given the unit's history in this decade — two officers were killed in a June 2000 crash in west Topeka and another pilot was forced to make an emergency landing during a training flight — we think Miller has cause to question his department's procedures and the experience of its pilots.
As the department's leader, he is responsible for the safety of the officers flying the helicopters and ensuring they don't fall to the ground and harm themselves or innocent civilians.
While he agrees with the NTSB that the latest crash wasn't caused by pilot error, Miller said he still wants to explore the pilots' response to the mechanical malfunction.
"I want to know if there were other possible responses, and what they reasonably would have been," he said.
Miller noted the pilot in command of the department's Robinson R-44 helicopter on April 5 was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and had almost 500 hours of flight time, but he wonders whether a pilot with 2,000 hours may have reacted differently.
He also questions whether the department should change its policy of selecting officers from its ranks for pilot training.
The chief should have ample time to find the answers to his questions before the helicopter unit he grounded after the crash returns to the sky over Topeka.
The Robinson R-44 hasn't been replaced. The department's only other helicopter is an older Schweizer 300C that was being used as a backup. Funding for the helicopter unit was included in the city's 2009 budget, but the Topeka City Council later shifted some of the money to another agency, leaving the police department short of what it needs to operate the unit for a full year.
Also, an aviation consultant's review of the helicopter program that Miller sought after the April 5 crash couldn't be completed until the NTSB issued its report. He expects that review sometime this month and has said it would include recommendations on the number of pilots required and the amount of training they should receive.
If the review recommends that the department search elsewhere for pilots, or that they have more than the
150 hours of flight time the department now requires of those who fly its helicopters, city council members should insist those recommendations be implemented before the unit resumes operations.
150 hours of flight time the department now requires of those who fly its helicopters, YIKES!