AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 62

Bell has had a
catbird seat for
countless news
events that
everyone else
sees only on
television.

can't fly, report, and get someplace with the
flight controls in your hand and a chart." He
has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of
airspace boundaries and radio frequencies,
as well as published transition routes. "It's a
necessity. But it's not as difficult to do as you
might think. You can commit quite a bit to
memory, accurately and reliably."
Although most flying is over a fourcounty area, news can take them farther.
"I've flown as far north as Lompoc, south to
the Mexican border-and I've flown east as
far as the Colorado River," Bell said.
Both Bell and Reyes stress the importance of teamwork-not just with each
other, but with TV station employees on
the ground. Reyes communicates with the
station, and monitors a bank of police and fire department radio scanners. She updates
Bell on which mountaintop microwave antenna is receiving NewsChopper 4's video
signal; he must orient the helicopter so that its skids or the camera housing don't interfere with transmissions from the belly-mounted antenna.
Reyes started in radio broadcasting 21 years ago, and is a certificated fixed-wing pilot
who flew as a radio traffic announcer from 1998 to 2012. She's been on the helicopter crew
about three years. Knowledge of the area is definitely an asset, she said, even with the help
of a Thomas Guide atlas and moving maps. But there's one sure-fire way to hone in on police
activity. "You look for the police helicopter-then you can pinpoint it," Reyes explained.
Despite the challenges, Bell and his coworkers love their jobs. He likes the variety of
subject matter, never knowing what could happen on a given day. And Bell has had a catbird seat for countless news events that everyone else sees only on television.
One of his most memorable pursuit stories happened about 15 years ago. A parolee who
had just been released from prison-for stealing delivery trucks-stole a 7-Up delivery truck.
Careening around Los Angeles at high speeds, doors along the side of the truck were opening and closing as he rounded corners. "Sodas were flying out, and people were trying to
dodge this thing, both on foot and in their vehicles. If it wasn't so crazy, it would have been
actually funny." The truck got stuck in a cul-de-sac and the driver ran into a nearby apartment, jumped out a window, and landed in a tree-where he was apprehended by police.
Reyes was wrapping up some video one day when the assignment editor radioed
about a police chase that had just broken off in the same area. "He was right under us-
he drove right into our frame. When I saw this motorcyclist going 100-plus, I knew it
was the guy," she said. "The [assignment] desk was on the phone with the CHP office
and told them we had a visual on the vehicle. What an adrenaline rush. That's as close
to being a cop as I'll ever get."
Bell was getting bounced around one very windy day when the other news helicopters
stayed on the ground. Looking toward a stand of trees beside a railroad track, he noticed
a big cloud of dust. "I thought to myself, 'It is really windy down there.'" Bell maneuvered
to take a closer look. "It was a Metrolink train that had actually just derailed, and the
dust that I was seeing was the train hitting the dirt and kicking that dust up into the air.
People were just starting to get out of the train." Their video was broadcast live immediately. "It was an extraordinary stroke of luck on our part, being news gatherers, to see
that thing almost happening."
Such memories are great perks, as are the brilliant sunrises the crew sees most mornings. The biggest downside may be the lack of helicopter traffic reports while they're
driving to the airport.
AOPA
EMAIL mike.collins@aopa.org

62 | AOPA PILOT March 2015

FIGHTING NOISE

Best practices helping
Noise complaints have long been
a challenge for helicopter operators in the Los Angeles Basin. "I
think the biggest misconception
people have out there is the mission of the helicopter," said Larry
Welk, president of Welk Aviation.
"I hear them called 'paparazzi
helicopters.' But a lot of times,
it's a different mission-a fire
helicopter, a police helicopter, a
medical helicopter flying organs
from hospital to hospital.
"With the visibility of news
helicopters, we remind our pilots
regularly about noise. There's
no mistaking who TV helicopters are." They don't fly low,
and they constrain takeoffs and
landings so noise impacts are
confined as much as possible to
airport property, said Welk, who
believes they're often mistaken
for a helicopter that passes after
someone saw a distinctive network aircraft overhead.
In 2014, Congress passed
legislation that requires the FAA
to examine helicopter noise in
the area and "make significant
progress," Welk said. "Helicopters are operated all over the
world, and the fact that this is a
Los Angeles-specific federal law
does concern me."
The agency's solution, he
said, is to continue working with
pilot groups to come up with
best practices. "There has been a
tremendous amount of progress
by the helicopter industry." A
noise monitoring and aircraft
tracking system also is coming-and it's being welcomed
with open arms by the helicopter
community, Welk said.
-MC

DEREK BELL greets another
Southern California sunrise (top).
Freeway traffic gets heavy well
before sunrise (far right). Bell
preflights the AStar's engine
compartment (bottom right).
NewsChopper 4 takes off on a
news assignment (center).

AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015

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