Helicopter

A 34-year-old Fredericksburg, Va., man was hospitalized yesterday after he lost control of the helicopter he was landing at the Dundalk Marine Terminal, authorities said. The unidentified man crashed about 2:30 p.m. on a lowboy trailer, a device similar to a flatbed truck. The left side of the landing gear touched down on the trailer, but the rest of the helicopter did not, said Richard M. Scher, a spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration. "He didn't just drop from the sky," Scher said.

THE ISSUE: The Howard County Police Department is planning to spend $2 million to buy a Bell 407 helicopter to replace a 40-year-old model shared with Anne Arundel County. The OH-58 chopper now in use will need a $300,000 maintenance overhaul soon, Howard Police Chief Wayne Livesay said, and a new machine would match one the Anne Arundel police have. The counties also share pilots. The Howard County Council must approve funds for the helicopter in the budget and must vote on a purchase agreement.

Like everyone else, when I think of black history during this month, the usual names come to mind: Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois. But I also have gained a greater appreciation over the years for living black history -- stories and experiences of people you might meet in your neighborhood, at the supermarket or at the fitness club. The fitness club -- the Columbia Athletic Club, to be specific -- is the place where I met Charles DeShields six years ago. When I got to know him, it was apparent that his life embodies so much of 20th Century African-American history.

A pedestrian was struck in Randallstown at Offutt Road and Winands Road on Thursday morning, said Baltimore County Police and Fire Department officials. Cpl. Cathy Batton, a Baltimore County Police Department spokeswoman, said at 8:05 a.m., police and fire units responded to a report at Offutt Road and Winands Road and encountered a teen female pedestrian that had been struck. The pedestrian was flown via helicopter to Johns Hopkins Pediatric Trauma Unit with serious injuries. Randallstown High School was used as the helicopter landing zone, officials said.

A helicopter giveaway program by the U.S. Department of Defense has caught the eye of County Executive John G. Gary, who wants a half-dozen of the aircraft for law and zoning enforcement.Last year, as the Department of Defense tightened its belt, more than 1,100 Bell Jet Rangers were declared surplus and removed from the Army's inventory.Project Northstar was created to help fight the drug war, and 152 of the helicopters were given to law enforcement agencies around the nation.Mr. Gary wants six helicopters -- four operational and two for spare parts -- to turn the Police Department's one-man aviation program into a full-fledged aviation unit.

A state police helicopter pilot's decision to make a rapid descent in an attempt to see better in fog was the chief cause of the medevac crash that killed four people last year near Andrews Air Force Base, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded. The board said Steven Bunker of Waldorf, who was killed in the Sept. 28, 2008, crash, failed to stop the descent at the proper altitude. The NTSB found no mechanical problems and determined that the helicopter's navigational instruments were working properly.

A crash on the eastbound William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge blocked traffic this morning, WBAL radio reports,. A Medevac helicopter landed to facilitate a hospital trip, the station reported. The bridge is now open.

The body of Marine Staff Sgt. Kendall D. Waters-Bey, a Northeast Baltimore native who was among the first casualties of the Iraq war, is back in the United States. Waters-Bey's body was flown to Dover Air Force Base early Thursday morning, his father said. The military has told Waters-Bey's family the remains will be turned over to them in three to five days. At that point, the family will begin planning services to be held in Baltimore. Waters-Bey, 29, died when the helicopter he was aboard crashed March 20, the second day of combat.

There's a reason you haven't been seeing any news footage on WBAL-TV from its much heralded News- Chopper 11 these days; the eagle is grounded. Throughout July, the news camera crew for the NBC affiliate has refused to go up in the Robinson R.44 helicopter, citing concerns about safety and its pilots. The cameramen agreed to film aerial footage during the station's extensive coverage of OpSail 2000 during late June and early July, but have stood down since. "We would never ask an employee to fly in an unsafe craft, or with a pilot who was not appropriately licensed," said Bill Fine, WBAL-TV's general manager.

A helicopter taking aerial photographs of Baltimore-Washington International Airport crashed near a construction site yesterday afternoon, killing both people on board and turning a taxiway into a scene of twisted wreckage. The aircraft, operated by Helicopter Transport Services, based at Martin State Airport, was carrying a photographer hired by BWI to take pictures of the construction area for the airport's new A terminal. It crashed just before 1 p.m., airport officials said. No other craft was involved, and no one on the ground was hurt.