Two helicopters crash watching a car chase

[OntarioVanMan]

Common sense??? Look at this world we live in....If common sense had a dollar figure we'd be bankrupt!!!

In truth though alot of schoolboards banned the game of TAG!!! it was too violent...slapping another person.

 

[Aviator]

>The difference is that if you roll your car on the highway
>you likely aren't doing it as part of an ongoing criminal
>act. The ongoing criminal act is the differentiating factor
>that makes the accountability issue.
>

Slippery slope.

If we go down that road, everyone that tunes in to watch car chases on television are truly the ones responsible.

No demand for live car chases, no helicopters flooding the skies to cover it.

No demand for People and InStyle Magazine, no hordes of papparazzi following around Lady Diana.

Aviator

 

[greg334]

Aviator
I have to agree that the demand for sensationalized coverage is the biggest problem we have and it don’t matter where in the world you go.

I had a conversation with someone in the film industry over the issue of the paparazzi hounding some of these actresses, which is somewhat a problem for many of them. I came to the conclusion that these people (the paparazzi) have been around for a while and for someone who has made it to the ‘big time’ can’t or don’t want to deal with them, they may have made a mistake in the choice of professions they made.

On the other hand, like the copter crash, the media has promoted this stuff to the point that they are hypocritical with their position. They will follow people around to report the news but when something like when Lady Spencer was killed by her drunk driver, they have people on the news condemning the paparazzi (George Clooney) and demanding that they be outlawed or whatever without mentioning the fact that their own people in their own profession do the same exact thing.

In the case of the copter crash, the fault lies with the pilots, the news director and the public in that order. The guy who they were chasing has nothing to do with it.

 

[Black Sheep]

Suppose the two copters crashed while trying to get coverage of Paris Hilton getting out of jail? Would she be charged with 2d degree murder? How about if they're covering an NFL playoff game - do the Colts and Patriots get charged? These news organizations cover these events by CHOICE, not requirement, and they're not part of the law enforcement process. If they're reckless and negligent in their pursuit of sensational journalism the consequences are on them. Fortunately, neither of the crashed aircraft landed on any innocent people on the ground. Just another instance of these news organizations thinking they're exempt from responsibility.

 

[greg334]

Speaking of Paris,

Her house is up for sale (I know big deal) but when I saw it on one news website, it was headline news and under that was "Housing Market Headed for a Crash"

 

[LDB]

One more time before I quit this thread, for the benefit of those who keep bringing up sports events, parades, etc., there is a big difference between that and an ongoing criminal act. That is where the difference lies. Because the crash occurred as a result of the ongoing crime, the person fleeing has involvement and culpability by it's very definition. Were it not for the felonious act of the suspect those two aircraft would not have defied Newton. Yes, the same thing could happen over the superbowl or world cup or Macy's parade in which case it would be 100% on the pilot's. This event is also primarily on the pilots however the instigating factor was the criminal act and this is an extension and consequence of the criminal act. I guess that's why they are reporting on the news that charges are pending.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[cheri1122]

Um, Leo - is the news media REQUIRED to cover crimes in general, or car chases in particular? Or is it a choice they make?
I know they insist that it's in response to 'demand', but frankly, I think that's a lot of bullhockey. They cover 'news' because it's both cheaper to produce, (creating higher profits), and easier to sensationalize. The frequent teasers, like: "Is your deodorant deadly?" or "Is your child at risk?" which always, in the end, (and only if you sit through the entire program, including way too many commercials) to the very end, do you learn that it was just hype - your deodorant is harmless, and your child isn't at risk - at least, no more than before.
Holding criminals responsible for their own acts is justice. Holding them responsible for the voluntary acts of others is not.

 

[Black Sheep]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think this one's still twitching. My point is the same as Cheri's - the TV stations follow these things to make live coverage that creates ratings and tapes that they can sell to tacky cable channels. It's strictly a commercial venture and they proceed at their own risk. This is the reason that it's illegal in most jurisdictions for civillians to follow fire trucks that are en route to an emergency. To do so is to interfere with law enforcement and endanger yourself and the lives of others. I also agree that fleeing felons should be stopped with deadly force if necessary, when appropriate. They are definitely at fault if they hit an innocent pedestrian or bystander in the act of fleeing the authorities. But if these nitwit TV reporters either don't know when to stay out of harm's way, or are under such pressure from their producers that they endanger themselves then maybe it's time for the FAA to step in and put a stop to this nonsense.

 

[LDB]

Going with the illogic of some of the responses then when he blows by granny doing 120mph and scares her so bad she jerks the wheel and swerves into the path of an 18 wheeler and the resulting wreck and fire kill her and the driver that isn't his fault and he isn't responsible. He didn't hit her car, he just happened to be passing by and she was the one incapable of maintaining control of her vehicle so too bad so sad she's just a roasty toasty due to her own failure to maintain control of her vehicle.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

But like I said earlier, the driver's wreckless driving did not cause those pilots to swerve to miss him.

-Vampire Super Slooth Trucker!!!

 

[greg334]

Leo,
My point goes back to the media’s ‘right’ to be involved with a situation that could be deadly, meaning occupational hazard.

I am in Phoenix tonight and have to say that there is a minority of people who feel that it truly is the fault of the news organization itself for this accident. Some feel that they enable the news people by watching it (the LA factor) and some feel so sorry for the families and angry that this could happen.

For me I look at it this way, these guys weren’t aunt Edna driving her Dodge Dart down I10 and getting hit, but rather four professionals reporting on something that was truly trivial. They know, as I do getting that getting into the cockpit everyday there is a risk involved in doing their job, as there is in mine. As a reporter, their ‘need’ to be involved overshadows the risk they take and for some un-Godly reason these people are put above the rest of us when something happens to them. I can point to many events with media people who now are ‘heroes’ when they got killed in a war zone, Iraq is a perfect example. I can not stand ignoring the troops to report that this reporter or that reporter got hurt. In the case of the few who have had been taken by our expense to be evacuated and receive better care than the troops is something that we need to put into perspective while we talk about things like this.

 

[cheri1122]

Is the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" illogical? Even if it could be proven that it was the fleeing criminal that caused granny to swerve, which of course it can't be - granny is still responsible for maintaining control of her vehicle. As the helicopter pilots were, and you and I are, as well. "Failure to maintain control" is a citable offense, last I heard.
Leo, no offense, but: do you by chance have an ancestor named Judge Roy Bean?

 

[bamamule]

THE LAST GOOD JUDGE lol lol
but bottom line if we don't work to get some of these laws changed
only one groop of people in the great USA will be not be charge with crimes the rest of us will always be at falt for everthing even junk that don't relate to the truth:+ :+