Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
I really wish they'd run the text of articles like this past their helicopter
pilot to see if it makes sense, aviation-wise, *before* they air it. It's
obvious they're clueless about flying.

Believe it or not the guy who wrote the AZCentral article posted by
Michael, Thomas Ropp, is generally pretty fair and accurate when it
comes to aviation related reporting. He covers the Scottsdale Airport
beat for the Arizona Republic. I understand from friends at an FBO at
SDL that he's had some flight training, although I don't see him in the
FAA database (Thomas Ropp could be a Pseudonym).

I guess I should send him an email sometime and thank him for all the
times he DIDN'T say that "witnesses heard the airplane stall and then
it fell from the sky." I did send him an angry email once regarding an
article about Scottsdale airport neighbors complaining about helicopter
noise. The article was very accurate and unbiased, but it was
accompanied by a "photo-illustration" of a Robinson R-22 that had been
Photo-Shopped into a residential street scene. It appeared as though
the helicopter was flying down a residential street 30 feet above the
driveways. The next day, the editorial section of the paper contained
the original R-22 photo, which had been taken of the helicopter about
30 feet over the ramp at SDL with the tower in the background. Never
got a reply from him, but I'll bet the accompanying photo was not his
work anyway.

-R