'Da Streetz' Not A Hit With Da Pilots

A pirate radio station broadcasting hip-hop music is causing pilots departing from Miami International Airport some grief.

Despite having much of its equipment confiscated by authorities in recent weeks, "Da Streetz" remains on the air... and in the air, causing potential safety problems as signals from the illegal station interfere with communications between pilots and regional air traffic controllers on two frequencies.

"It's intermittent. Not all day, every day," FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told the Miami Herald. "But clear communication between air control and the pilots is a critical part of flying."

The issue began with pilots reporting hearing hip-hop songs playing on frequency as they contacted ATC. Earlier this month, state investigator Joseph Zeller traced the signals to a warehouse in Opa-locka with a large radio antenna mounted to it.

After obtaining a search warrant, Zeller raided the warehouse, and confiscated three computers, a monitor, mixing board, stereo compressor, and other equipment necessary to operate a radio station.

He did not find the two most important pieces of the puzzle, though: the radio transmitter, and the DJ operating it. That means "Da Streetz" is still on da air.

"No arrests. This is still an open case,'' said Paige Patterson-Hughes, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman.

Authorities are still working to shut down Da Streetz, one of as many as 20 illegal radio stations operating in south Florida -- sometimes referred to as a pirate radio operator's paradise, given its flat terrain and diverse ethnic population.

"[Pirate broadcasters] get a kick out of it. They laugh at everybody," said Florida Association of Broadcasters president C. Patrick Roberts, adding some stations transmit all day, every day -- switching frequencies to throw off investigators.

A Florida anti-piracy law went into effect last summer that made broadcasting without a license -- or interfering with signals from licensed public or commercial stations -- a third-degree felony. Agents have shut down five such stations since the law went into effect.

FMI: www.fcc.gov