Should Pilots Fear the Police?

Stephen Pope

Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 05:45 AM ET

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bk117 Flying

Key Takeaways:

A medevac helicopter pilot was ticketed for landing at a Stamford, CT hospital to transport a critically ill newborn, violating a new city ordinance prohibiting helicopter landings.
The ordinance, intended to prevent non-essential helicopter travel, did not initially exempt emergency medical flights, causing the pilot to face a significant fine.
Following media attention and public outcry, Stamford city officials quickly amended the law to explicitly permit emergency medical helicopters, dropped the charges, and issued apologies to the pilot.
The incident serves as an example of how overzealous enforcement of poorly drafted regulations can impede critical emergency services and highlights the need for clear legal exemptions for such operations.

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The plight of the glider pilot who was arrested for overflying a nuclear powerplant in violation of zero federal or local laws reminds me of another instance in which overzealous police overstepped their bounds after a pilot did exactly what he was supposed to be doing.

It happened on New Year’s Eve in 2003. My dad, Bill Pope, a medevac helicopter pilot for the Westchester County Medical Center outside New York City, had gotten the call to pick up a critically ill newborn from Stamford Hospital in Connecticut. Along with a flight nurse and paramedic, he boarded his BK117 and took off into the dark for the short flight across the state border.