The Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Air Support Division recently brought together aviation teams for the Southern California Regional Public Safety Aviation Exercise. Commonly known as the “Chili Fly-In” to air crews across the region, the exercise has served multiple purposes, especially in preparing for natural or manmade disasters.
Since its inception in 1983, aviation assets from law enforcement, fire departments, and the military have come together each year to coordinate the movement of personnel and resources across the region.
The exercise is succinctly described in the operations order as an “opportunity for Air Support Division personnel and other airborne public safety agencies to develop the standing plans and to practice the tactics, techniques, and procedures necessary for a coordinated response to an unusual occurrence or a major disaster.”
One of the key components of the event is the inclusion of air traffic controllers, who become the “personnel” being moved as part of the exercise. Additionally, the event serves to express appreciation for the controllers working at airport towers throughout Southern California. It’s a massive undertaking for LAPD Air Support, but they rise to the challenge every November.
LAPD’s Hooper Memorial Heliport (58CA), located on the northeast edge of downtown LA, is the world’s largest rooftop heliport. With 16 parking spots, all of them occupied during the exercise, it’s easy to see why this heliport would be a key rotorcraft hub during a disaster. This exercise allows pilots and tactical flight officers (TFO) to familiarize themselves with the heliport’s location, hazards, communication, and procedures in a controlled setting before an actual emergency.
An all-hands-on-deck event
For LAPD Air Support, this is an all-hands-on-deck event. In addition to supporting the daily patrol and surveillance duties, there are additional job assignments that day. Numerous crews are assigned to transportation flights shuttling air traffic controllers from their towers to the heliport.
Upon arrival, ground crews from both air support and LAPD SWAT escort them safely away from the aircraft to the hangar. The heliports tower has numerous pilots and TFOs assigned to coordinate landings, takeoffs, deck movements, and safety.
The tower is an extremely busy place for about four hours, and it is not unusual to have 200-plus landings and takeoffs in that time period. Many times, there are four to five aircraft holding at designated points waiting to land, while up to three aircraft are on the deck loading and unloading.
The theme for the day is: everyone is a safety officer. Safety remains the top priority, and requires tested procedures, strong communication, and vigilance.
Inside the hangar, aircrews and air traffic controllers are treated to a well-deserved lunch — chili, of course. The hangar quickly fills with hundreds of attendees networking and enjoying their meal before boarding helicopters to return to their respective towers. The day concludes for air support crews once the final transport mission is complete, followed by a full debrief of the exercise.
