{"id":234,"date":"2026-06-16T20:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=234"},"modified":"2026-06-16T20:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:35:10","slug":"phoenix-police-disciplined-chopper-pilot-who-spelled-name-in-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=234","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix police disciplined chopper pilot who spelled name in the sky"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Last summer, flight trackers picked up a Phoenix Police Department helicopter spelling out the name \u201cALEX\u201d with its flight path over a Maryvale neighborhood. Later that year, according to police records released to Phoenix New Times, the department found that the pilot engaged in unprofessional conduct.<\/p>\n

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New Times first reported on the unusual flight path last July, when the pilot\u2019s flight path was posted to Reddit. At the time, there was no public information about the purpose of the flight or the helicopter\u2019s pilot, or whether the pilot was spelling their own name or someone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Public records now reveal the pilot to have been 48-year-old officer Alexander Crabbs, who was indeed spelling out his own name over the west Phoenix neighborhood just north of Interstate 10. According to documents, an inquiry about the flight from New Times sparked a review by the police department\u2019s Professional Standards Bureau.<\/p>\n

That review, which culminated in August 2025, found that Crabbs engaged in \u201cunprofessional conduct\u201d by failing to \u201cmaintain a professional approach to their duties at all times\u201d when he used the helicopter to spell out his name. He used department resources to engage in \u201cunnecessary activity,\u201d which was available to the public and \u201ccreated negative public inquiry and media coverage,\u201d the investigation found.<\/p>\n

He was assigned the professional discipline of \u201csupervisory counseling\u201d over the incident. Phoenix police did not respond to a request for comment from New Times.<\/p>\n

Crabbs told investigators he picked landmarks on the ground and then tried to write his name in the sky using them as reference points, according to the investigation. In hindsight, Crabbs \u201cexpressed regret\u201d for his activity and said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t do it again, I tell you that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was a slow Wednesday,\u201d Crabbs explained to investigators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crabbs was in \u201csole control of the aircraft\u201d as the \u201cpilot in command\u201d of a normally scheduled Phoenix Police Department helicopter flight. He\u2019d been in the position for the department\u2019s Air Support Unit for approximately eight months; however, he\u2019s been employed by the department for 26 years. Crabbs has been a Federal Aviation Administration-certified pilot since January 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the time of his spelling misadventure, Crabbs wasn\u2019t assigned to respond to a call and was \u201cavailable to respond to requests for assistance,\u201d according to the investigation\u2019s findings. If a call had come in, Crabbs told investigators, he would have stopped the skywriting and responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I didn\u2019t think it was that big of a deal, to be honest,\u201d Crabbs said when investigators asked if he thought his activity was unprofessional. \u201cI would be flying anyway and instead of drawing straight lines that are invisible, uh, I decided if I\u2019d see if I can do my name.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Phoenix police Commander Brian Riggan told investigators that Crabbs\u2019 flight path wasn\u2019t unsafe or outside of the helicopter\u2019s capacities and was conducted at an appropriate altitude, meaning it \u201cwould not generate excessive noise on the ground.\u201d Additionally, the investigation found that Crabbs\u2019 usual flight path didn\u2019t result in additional flight time, fuel or expense to the department, nor did it violate any FAA regulations, according to documentation provided to investigators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thus, Crabbs was not found to have wasted departmental resources, as he would have been piloting the helicopter anyway during that time while waiting to respond to emergency calls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Joe Arpaio\u2019s 94th birthday party was rife with scuzzy has-beens<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last summer, flight trackers caught a Phoenix police helicopter spelling out “ALEX” over a west Phoenix neighborhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nPhoenix police disciplined chopper pilot who spelled name in the sky - Phoenix Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=234\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phoenix police disciplined chopper pilot who spelled name in the sky - Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last summer, flight trackers caught a Phoenix police helicopter spelling out "ALEX" over a west Phoenix neighborhood.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=234\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T20:35:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=234#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=234\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b18a6d477e57bdeec7b4b61a70eace7b\"},\"headline\":\"Phoenix police disciplined chopper pilot who spelled name in the sky\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T20:35:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=234\"},\"wordCount\":609,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=234#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ee98844ea9ac6cc8b268273a9dac0480.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=234#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=234\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=234\",\"name\":\"Phoenix police disciplined chopper pilot who spelled name in the sky - 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