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(10/19/2001) RTNDA President Barbara Cochran Testifies Before Congress On Helicopter Ban.
Radio-Television News Directors Association President Barbara Cochran testified on Capitol Hill yesterday in an ongoing attempt to get the ban on news helicopters lifted. News helicopters in the 30 largest U.S. cities have been banned since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"This five-week restriction on news aircraft in major cities takes away one
of the most important newsgathering tools stations use to serve the public," Cochran testified. "In large cities, such as Phoenix and Los Angeles, helicopters are a necessity in covering the entire community quickly and efficiently. Especially in these times, the public deserves news about its own community that is as complete and timely as possible, and the use of news helicopters makes that possible."
In her testimony, Cochran also asked why restrictions in 15 of the 30
markets had been lifted for other small aircraft that follow visual flight
rules, but not for news helicopters. Committee chair John Mica (R-FL) said he was "shocked" to learn that the easing of restrictions in 15 of the 30 markets did not cover news helicopters.
Because of the ongoing ban, Cochran noted, local stations were unable to cover some incidents quickly or fully. She cited several such incidents,
such as a tornado in Maryland, a chemical spill in Houston, a plane crash in Dallas, and a student-pilot plane crash in Orlando. "Think about it,"
Cochran said of the latter example. "A student pilot was permitted to fly
and crashed his plane. A news helicopter owned by a reputable company and piloted by an experienced pilot who has flown in the Orlando area for many years was not allowed to cover the story."
Cochran appeared before the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Aviation at a hearing that included a
dozen experts, testifying about the continuing restrictions on general
aviation flying in Class B airspace.
RTNDA is the world's largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. RTNDA represents local and network news executives in broadcasting, cable and other electronic media in more than 30 countries.
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