Pilot Charged With Buzzing Streisand Wedding

It was not a violation of celebrity air space that caused helicopter pilot Robert Butler to run afoul of Public Utilities Code 21407, a 40-year-old law against reckless flying, a prosecutor said.

It was the noise made afterward by the neighbors.

Malibu residents complained in droves to sheriff’s deputies about the 15 paparazzi-laden helicopters hovering over their neighborhood July 1, the day Barbra Streisand married James Brolin at her cliffside Point Dume compound.

But only one helicopter pilot flew really low, Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin L. Herscovitz said.

And so, in another of those only-in-L.A. criminal cases, pilot Robert Butler, 37, was charged Thursday with reckless flying and disturbing the peace. Both are misdemeanors. Herscovitz said it is the first criminal case involving airborne paparazzi.

Butler, who works for Bravo Helicopter and Wing of Torrance, faces up to nine months in jail and a $1,400 fine. He is scheduled to be arraigned March 24 in Malibu Municipal Court.

This was news to officials at Bravo, who said they were unaware that charges were pending. Butler could not be reached, but Bravo owner and chief pilot Robin Petgrave said the only time Butler flew low was over the ocean.

“Our pilot was prudent,” Petgrave said. “As far as we know, he was not breaking any laws.”

Butler’s helicopter was the only one that dipped below the legal 500-foot level during Streisand’s outdoor reception, law enforcement officials said.

According to Herscovitz, Butler, who was carrying a photographer for one of the supermarket tabloids, flew lower than 200 feet. The law is meant to ensure that helicopter pilots maintain altitudes that allow for a safe landing.

Witnesses said Butler broke away from the other helicopters and buzzed over the wedding, endangering the lives of the 250 guests, police said.

Petgrave responded that because Butler flew low only over the ocean, only the lives of some fish were endangered.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, the charges against Butler culminated a seven-month investigation. Prosecutor Herscovitz said the investigation was extensive and involved experts--although Streisand was not interviewed, he added.

Streisand and Brolin exchanged wedding vows during a ceremony performed by a rabbi inside the compound. Composer Marvin Hamlisch conducted a 16-piece orchestra featuring 10 violins during the ceremony. Guests included Donna Karan, John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, and President Clinton’s brother, Roger, and his wife, Molly.

“This was not just the protection of Barbra Streisand,” said Herscovitz. “The whole community was up in arms about what was happening out there that day.”