Copter Session Yields No Pursuit Guidelines

A closed meeting on safer procedures for high-speed police helicopter pursuits in Orange County yielded no new guidelines Wednesday but paved the way for future discussions among local law enforcement agencies, a sponsor of the meeting said.

Pilots and other representatives of law enforcement helicopter programs from Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach met for more than two hours to discuss a variety of airborne safety issues and will gather again in the near future, according to Huntington Beach Police Lt. Robert Morrison, who runs the city’s helicopter program.

The afternoon meeting at the police heliport in Huntington Beach was prompted by the March 10 fatal collision between two police helicopters over Irvine. Two police officers and a civilian observer were killed and two other officers were injured in the accident, the nation’s first known collision between police aircraft.

‘Hand Off’ Maneuver

Investigators have determined that the accident occurred when a Costa Mesa police helicopter attempted to “hand off” its high-speed pursuit of a car theft suspect to a waiting Newport Beach copter when the late-night chase entered that city.

“The idea of this meeting . . . is to build something out of this (tragedy) so that this didn’t happen in vain,” Morrison said before the session began. The accident underscored “a flaw in our system,” and the pilots and other representatives in attendance would search for ways to prevent such a mishap in the future, he added.

In an earlier interview, Morrison said that Orange County law enforcement agencies might consider ways to coordinate high-speed pursuits, especially chases involving more than one helicopter. He noted that such policies may differ from one jurisdiction to the next.

If the Orange County agencies could agree on general guidelines, Morrison said, they might become a model for regional procedures in Los Angeles County and other parts of the nation where law enforcement helicopter programs have proliferated.

After Wednesday’s meeting, however, Morrison said only that “safety” issues had been discussed and that there would be “no different (flying) instructions at this point in time.”

“We can’t come out with any broad statement,” he said, noting that administrators of the four municipal helicopter programs--as well as the Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter division, which did not send a representative to Wednesday’s meeting--would have to approve any proposed changes.

“We will be talking to the (Federal Aviation Administration) and our own administrators” about ideas for changes in airborne procedures that come out of the Orange County meetings, Morrison added. “I’m certain that out of this will come more meetings.”