phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?

[pergesu]

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I have so much to say being from Phoenix and watching this yesterday for hours on end. I think my reply to every post would get me banned so I'll leave. ttyl.

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Or you should get a star for unparalleled lameness.

Spill it.

[tuq]

Almost posted an OP about this yesterday. It was leading on Drudge Report and FOX News, and eventually CNN.com. It happened right by where I both live and work, and it was the talk of the town. The reason I didn't post it is the stupid goddamned LOL forum, I didn't want to catch crap for posting a couple of links and discussing 1) the criminal's liability in the crashes and 2) the utter police ineptitude that led to the crash.

Apparently people in this forum somehow live in even more of a bubble than I do, based on the responses. This was a grisly, brutal thing that by mere fluke spared a ton of other deaths. It happened just north of Indian School Road downtown, at the site of the original Indian School. Everywhere around it is densely populated, including a VA hospital maybe 1/4 mile east at the most.

In case you missed it:

Video from downed helicopter (grisly).

Video from CBS affiliate approaching, which showed the crash in the distance but mostly the two copters hitting the ground.

Pic of the two helicopters falling in mid-air.

The annoying thing, if you can find feed from the NBC affiliate, is that the cops repeatedly botched stopping the guy. There was one time that they had him trapped in a cul-de-sac and he simply drove around one of the cop cars. Then just as the two copters hit each other he successfully switched trucks. The NBC chopper was filming from the opposite side of the downed chopper and rolled footage of a cop having the suspect in his sights but letting him drive off. At the time and for awhile, it wasn't clear to us that letting the guy get away in a new car probably had no effect on the down choppers' fate, but we thought it did and were annoyed by the half-assed attempts by the cops to stop the perp.

And from what I've read around here, he will be charged with manslaughter for the four deaths.

[kipin]

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Video from CBS affiliate approaching, which showed the crash in the distance but mostly the two copters hitting the ground.

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I know its probably too early to be joking about this kind of thing, but the audio on this video cracks me up.

It sounds like the pilot is running a marathon.

Also from looking at that video, it does seem extremely lucky that no one outside of the crew in the two helicopters died.