CBS LA follows up on an LAPD helicopter that had to move out of the way of a U.S. Navy helicopter over Echo Park, with radio audio and a Navy statement.
What the video covers
Written in our own words. It only describes what the video shows and says.CBS LA returns to an encounter over Echo Park in Los Angeles, where an LAPD helicopter pilot had to move out of the way of a U.S. Navy helicopter. Reporter Mike Rogers says two military helicopters were involved: one from the U.S. Navy and one from the Coast Guard. Both had come out of Los Alamitos on a training mission. According to the report, the encounter happened near Echo Park Lake, outside the area controlled by an air traffic control tower.
Position calls on a common frequency
Mike Rogers explains that helicopters in the Los Angeles basin that are not under a tower's control are supposed to talk on a common frequency and advise each other of their positions. The station then plays the radio audio. The LAPD pilot repeatedly reports his position over Echo Park Lake at 900 feet in a left hand orbit. He then complains that the other helicopters pushed him out of his spot while he had a suspect hiding below. A CBS LA photographer filmed the Navy and Coast Guard helicopters over Hollywood moments after the encounter.
Two different accounts
In a statement read on air, the U.S. Navy says its helicopters were conducting a training exercise with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Los Angeles Police Department on November 3rd. According to the Navy, its aircrew were monitoring and communicating on the required radio frequencies. Mike Rogers says this contradicts what the LAPD told the station the day before: despite the many calls from the LAPD pilot, the Navy helicopters never responded. Asked again, the Navy said it was not training with an LAPD helicopter, but it would not say which LAPD personnel it had trained with. The LAPD declined to comment further.
See and avoid
Radio position reports help pilots build a picture of the traffic around them, but they do not replace looking outside. Under the US rule 14 CFR 91.113, every pilot must stay vigilant to see and avoid other aircraft when weather conditions permit, whether the flight is under visual or instrument flight rules. Low level police and military helicopter operations over a city leave little margin when one crew does not know where the other is.
