November 18, 1993
After receiving no opposition from county supervisors who had initially voiced doubts about the purchase, the Fairfax County Police Department has gone ahead with plans to replace a $ 1.5 million helicopter that crashed last summer.
The helicopter crashed moments after takeoff Aug. 24 because its pilot and co-pilot forgot to unplug it from a battery unit on the ground.
Board Chairman Thomas M. Davis III (R) and Supervisor Ernest J. Berger (R-Dranesville) questioned last month whether the helicopter, one of three in the police fleet, needed to be replaced. Fairfax County is the only area jurisdiction in Virginia with its own police helicopters.
"If a kid asks for a glass of Coke, and you give it to him and he drops it, do you give him another one? Of course not," Davis said at the time. He contended that some of the 18 officers in the helicopter unit could be reassigned to understaffed police units. But neither Davis nor Berger made any attempt to stop the purchase when it was described to the Board of Supervisors at its meeting this week.
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