CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / GARDENA
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A La Jolla helicopter pilot who was videotaped having oral sex with a Swedish porn actress while flying over San Diego lost his appeal Tuesday to overturn the March 12 revocation of his commercial pilot’s license by the Federal Aviation Administration.
After a three-hour hearing in Gardena, William R. Mullins, an administrative law judge for the National Transportation Safety Board, ruled that David Keith Martz, 52, had deliberately engaged in “grossly reckless conduct” during the flight May 29, 2005.
The government’s evidence indicated that Martz was distracted from his flying and that the position of the woman’s body would have blocked his access to the aircraft’s controls in case of an emergency. Martz contended that his behavior was not reckless because the helicopter was in no danger of going out of control or crashing.
-- Dan Weikel
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