State Patrol looks into NASCAR's Bill Elliott flying chopper

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ATLANTA - The Georgia State Patrol is conducting an internal investigation into NASCAR driver Bill Elliott being given a shot at the controls of a state helicopter.

The patrol adopted detailed policies on helicopter use a year ago after criticism about it flying Gov. Sonny Perdue to political events and letting him take the controls of the aircraft.

Elliott, who is from Dawsonville, was invited to fly a military-style helicopter June 28 during a marijuana eradication mission.

The driver, who is a licensed pilot, said the troopers asked him to go along on the trip and offered him the controls.

"I wouldn't do anything to get anybody in trouble," Elliott told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "They were out doing this deal. I just thought I could help them out doing stuff.

"I fly a helicopter," he said. "I flew it some. It has dual controls."

Col. George Ellis, the commander of the Georgia State Patrol, ordered the investigation on Friday after hearing that a civilian had been brought into a law enforcement mission that also included the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local authorities, the newspaper reported Saturday.

Elliott had dropped off a plane in Dawsonville that day and needed to return to Blairsville.

According to the patrol's "aviation summary," the pilot on the mission had spotted the plants for a ground team in Union County. The helicopter transported Elliott and Lt. Eddie Williams, the second in command, to Blairsville.

After the controversy over the governor's flights, Attorney General Thurbert Baker said the state's aircraft should be used only for legitimate state trips. Baker spokesman Russ Willard said Friday that because the patrol had begun an internal investigation into the Elliott flight, the attorney general's office would have no comment.

According to state records, the flight was a joint state-federal-local effort that uses helicopter spotters to direct ground teams to marijuana plants. The mission centered on Union County, where 12 plants were seized.

The Mercury News
Sat, Jul. 10, 2004
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...9125430.htm?1c