It may have been a proper use of Police Department assets, or maybe not; but the FAA is on the case of a Tampa (FL) Police helicopter pilot, for his part in a Super Bowl celebration Monday, in the winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers' home field, Raymond James Stadium.

Everybody in town wanted to celebrate, and the PD wanted to make a big splash, in front of some 65,000 who gathered there to celebrate their team's win, so they brought one of the department's helis. Two cops rappelled to the ground, as the chopper hovered.

The FAA says the PD didn't get the required waiver.

Christopher White, FAA spokesman in Atlanta (GA), told, ANN, "We're not addressing the 'security' issue. We're examining whether the maneuver was safe."

Empirical evidence suggests it was safe (nobody got hurt); but, either the FAA does require the waiver, or it does not. There should not be too much to investigate. If the PD required a waiver, the pilot should be busted, just as the FAA should bust any other pilot who violated the rule. If the PD did not require a waiver, the FAA should be doing something else.

Absent anything other than subjective judgment, it's likely the FAA will give the cops a pass. Whether the taxpayers think this exhibition is a good use of their money, is an election-day question, though nobody's too worried. A local television station's poll question ("Do you think the Super Bowl win was the biggest thing to happen in the Tampa area, ever?") received 87% "yes" votes.

FMI: www.faa.gov; www.tampagov.net/dept_Police/index.asp