3 LAPD Copters Grounded as Hazards : Law enforcement: Old choppers presented crash risk and maintenance costs were increasing quickly.

The Los Angeles Police Department has grounded three of its 16 helicopters, saying they are so old that they might crash and the expense of keeping them in flying shape has grown too great.

“They are some of the highest-flight-time helicopters in the world and they were being grounded regularly because of radio problems,” LAPD Cmdr. Tim McBride said Tuesday. “Ultimately it was necessary to just put them on the ground and keep them there.”

The three choppers, manufactured in the 1970s, have each logged more than 32,000 hours in the air and have been a source of growing concern to pilots and city officials because they have been plagued by leaks, corroding wires and other maintenance problems.

Chief Willie L. Williams informed City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie of his decision to ground the three choppers, writing in a letter July 14 that it was “unreasonable to continue operating these aircraft until a failure point was defined by experiencing a mishap” and that the aircraft were no longer “cost effective to maintain.”

Maintenance costs were estimated at just over $200,000 for each aircraft in the 1995-96 fiscal year and were predicted to escalate in the future, Williams wrote.

Acting LAPD chief Ronald Banks briefed the Board of Police Commissioners on Williams’ decision--which took effect June 23--at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, Commissioner Art Mattox said. Banks, filling in for the vacationing Williams, told the board that the department will try to maintain existing service levels with the remaining 13 choppers during hours of peak activity, Mattox said.

“This was primarily a safety decision involving the safety of our department employees and the safety of our public,” Mattox said.

Mayor Richard Riordan’s budget, which increased police spending by $54 million to $1.21 billion, envisions replacing the aging choppers over the next three to five years.

The City Council in March ordered Comrie’s office and the Police Department to modify a city bond program to include funding for new choppers and to develop a helicopter replacement program.

Comrie plans to recommend to city officials that the $4.8 million needed to replace the choppers be made available this year and be financed through that city bond program, said Peter DiCarlo, an administrative analyst for Comrie’s office.

Police officials are also in the process of developing a helicopter replacement program that is expected to be presented to a City Council subcommittee within two weeks.

In his letter to Comrie, Williams stated that new aircraft could carry more equipment, would have more efficient and powerful engines, make less noise and provide greater safety for air crews.