Slack & Davis Comments About Dallas Police Department Helicopter Safety
04/10/08Slack & Davis’ Ladd Sanger was quoted in a recent TV news story about Dallas Police Department helicopter inspections and safety. The story was featured on WFAA-TV in Dallas.
Police pilots worry mechanic falsified helicopter inspections
By JASON WHITELY / WFAA-TV
Story link with video
DALLAS - One of the Dallas Police Department’s three new helicopters has been grounded and the city’s only helicopter mechanic is on paid leave.
Police pilots worry the mechanic might not have been inspecting the aircraft thoroughly even though he indicated he did on inspection reports.
“In this case, there was a pretty strong belief that a lot of the pilots out there lost confidence in Mr. [Robert] Lannerd,” said Deputy Chief Thomas Lawrence, Dallas Police Department.
Lannerd is DPD’s only helicopter mechanic. Two others quit the department last fall.
The Dallas Morning News has learned the police department put Lannerd on leave Monday as it investigates whether he falsified an inspection report on a new police helicopter recently.
“One of the pilots wanted to make sure he was checking everything,” Lawrence explained. “So, he marked one of the items. In the pilot’s opinion, he did not check it.”
He did not check it, but he reportedly signed an inspection log indicating he did, Lawrence said. Lannerd said DPD Internal Affairs investigators will determine whether Lannerd might have been overwhelmed or overlooked the part in question.
The police chopper in question remains grounded as it awaits another inspection from a private contractor.
“For a mechanic to be not doing the inspections or falsifying the records,” Dallas aviation attorney Ladd Sanger said, “it puts officers in the helicopter, pilots in the helicopter and the city of Dallas at risk because if an engine failure were to occur over a populated area it could be disastrous.”
Sanger said he is litigating a case right now in which he said a mechanic falsified an inspection report leading to a plane crash in Tyler in 2006.
Lannerd, who said he has been with Dallas police for two years, did not want to speak publicly, but he did say he should be vindicated at the end of the investigation.
Until then, DPD has hired a private mechanic to keep police in the air.
« Back to News Releases
| Sign up for our e-newsletter |  |
Slack & Davis, L.L.P. (Principal office in Austin, Texas) All rights reserved. | Disclaimer | Site Map
Austin: 2705 Bee Cave Rd., Ste. 220, Austin, TX 78746 | 512.795.8686 | 800.455.8686 | Dallas: 2911 Turtle Creek Blvd., Ste. 1400, Dallas, TX 75219 | 214.528.8686
Legal website design by Creative Suitcase