Someone once told me that aircraft accidents happen every 5,000 hours during a pilot’s flying career. Well, mine came at 6,000 hours rather than 5,000. I have been flying small airplanes and helicopters since I was a teenager. My life has been pretty much the epitome of “will fly for food.” Stints as a police helicopter pilot, National Park Service floatplane pilot, aerial survey pilot, traffic-watch pilot, helicopter tour pilot and flight instructor have satisfied my flying addiction (albeit not all of my bills) over the years.
On June 14, 2008, I was loving life, using my day off from my regular job as a police sergeant to fly a Robinson R44 helicopter for a Los Angeles-based helicopter tour company. Showing the canyons and shorelines of Southern California to excited tourists was (and is) one of my favorite types of flying. The enthusiasm of folks enjoying their vacation, and often their first flight in a helicopter, is infectious. Every tour flight is fun.
