Two officers have died this year as of this writing during police helicopter operations. There were six in 2022 and one in 2020. Sixteen police officers have been killed in aircraft in the line of duty over the past decade. Although the number of officers who died in this manner is small compared to the 1,756 who fell during the decade, the tragedies are significant. Since aircraft are staffed by co-pilots and observers, crashes often kill and injure more than one person at a time. Injured persons and civilians killed aboard the crashes are not counted in the official toll.
Air operations, whether by helicopter or fixed-wing craft, are a vital asset to law enforcement for criminal interdiction and emergency rescue. The first police aviation unit is attributed to New York City with fixed-wing aircraft just after WW1, as the value of aircraft had been proven and a cadre of pilots had been trained.
As helicopter technology also improved during the war times of the 1940s and 1950s, rotor wing craft became the preferred police air unit with its flexibility. Fixed-wing units are still widely used for a variety of tasks with their ability to cover more square miles at higher altitudes.
The stories of officer sacrifice reflect the airborne operations of law enforcement. In March of this year Sgt. David Poirrier and Cpl. Scotty Canezaro of the Baton Rouge, LA Police Department were assisting with a vehicle pursuit when the aircraft behaved erratically, ending up inverted and crashed leaving the two experienced pilots dead.
In August of last year Sgt. Harold Russell of the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Detective Matthew Blansett of the Marion County, TN Sheriff’s Department were airborne to surveil an illegal marijuana grow. They were diverted while in the air to assist with a missing persons search when they struck a powerline and crashed.
Also last year, three Bernalillo County, NM officers were returning to a staging area to pick up fire crew members while assisting with a wildfire. Undersheriff Lawrence Koren, Lt, Fred Beers, and Deputy Michael Levison along with the County’s Fire Rescue Specialist Matthew King were killed instantly when the craft suddenly went down.
In an unusual third helicopter fatality of 2022, Huntington Beach, CA Police Officer Nicholas Vella, and another officer were responding to assist with a fight call when the pilot slowed and hovered in order to photograph the scene. The aircraft began to veer and the pilot fought to control the craft and get over the ocean to avoid crashing in a populated area. He survived with injuries but rescuers could not save Vella.
A Houston Police helicopter was requested to help search for two bodies reportedly sighted floating in the Greens Bayou area of Houston. Tactical Flight Officer Jason Knox, 35, died from his injuries. The pilot, Senior Officer Chase Cormier, 35 survived with critical injuries when the aircraft crashed into part of an apartment complex. No one on the ground was injured.
During civil disturbances in Charlottesville, VA Lieutenant Pilot Jay Cullen and Trooper Pilot Berke Bates of the Virginia State Police were monitoring the unrest in advance of a VIP visit to the area. The pilot lost control of the craft which plunged into a stand of trees and became engulfed in flames, killing both occupants.
In 2016 Deputy Sheriff Scott Ballantyne of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, California and Mr. James Chavez, a civilian pilot were assisting in the search for a fleeing suspect in a firearms-related case. After the suspect was arrested, Chavez began to return to base but suddenly lost altitude and crashed into a hillside.
Alaska State Trooper Tage Toll was serving as a spotter during a search and rescue mission near Talkeetna, Alaska in the agency’s rescue helicopter. The mission had successfully located a missing snow machine operator and had taken the subject aboard the aircraft. Likely a result of rapid loss of visual references due to weather changes, the craft crashed near Larson Lake in the Talkeetna area, Trooper Toll, civilian pilot Mel Nading, and the snowmachiner 56-year-old Carl Ober were all killed in the crash.
Aircraft, and helicopters, in particular, are expensive to obtain, operate, and maintain. Their value in saving lives and saving time and ground resources is only part of the equation. With over 2,000 police helicopters patrolling and responding, public safety demands their continued use and brave crews.