Friday, a very sad thing happened. Two news heliocopters crashed while following a high speed pursuit in Phoenix. I won’t go into why I hate high speed chases being broadcast on television. That’s a rant for another day. What really bothers me is that the suspect, (you know, the guy on the GROUND in the CAR) might face charges relating to the death of the two pilots and two cameramen who were in the crash. I am very agitated by this. If it were two police heliocopters, who were following the pursuit because it’s a requirement of their jobs and helps to keep our sticky little planet safe, then by all means, charge the fleeing bastard. However, these were not police heliocopters. These were news people in the pursuit of a story that will likely garner them some ratings. That’s their job, I understand that. But they were not required to be there. They could have easily reported the story without following the chase. They could have skipped the story altogether, thus denying said suspect the semi-celebrity he received from the pursuit. (Which is really my main argument against televised high-speed pursuits.) But that’s the route they chose to take, which is quite unfortunate. How exactly does that become the suspect’s problem? He did not crash his car into the heliocopter. He did not ask to be followed (yes, yes I know this is part of the reason that high speed chases occur, but FTLOG STOP GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT!). He should be liable for every single illegal lane change, every fail to yield at a stop sign or stop light, every mile per hour he went over the speed limit, any and all damage or harm he inflicted to people he encountered on this trip. But seriously, we can’t charge him with a crime that he did not cause.

Aside from all that, how does one operate a heliocopter and not see another giant heliocopter coming at them? TWO pilots crashed into each other. TWO pilots were negligent in their flying. It would be bad enough if one wasn’t paying attention, but TWO! Perhaps their employers should be held liable for their deaths, for not keeping them on the ground instead of pursuing a stupid story.