Dangers of wearing headphones raised after helicopter death of B.C. student
TORONTO — The death of a 23-year-old student killed when a helicopter crash-landed on him in the middle of the street is raising questions about how aware people are of their surroundings when outside listening to portable audio devices - such as iPods and MP3 players.
Isaiah Otieno, from Kenya, was crossing a street in a quiet Cranbrook, B.C. neighbourhood last week when a helicopter struggling to stay airborne suddenly dropped on top of him.
At the time, there were reports that Otiena was wearing ear or headphones and may not have heard the downward spiralling chopper.
While there is no evidence to back up that theory, the speculation is hard to avoid considering the millions of people each day who walk, run, cycle and in-line skate with the ubiquitous ear buds.
When Kevin Guest, a staff sergeant with the Toronto Police, gives streetproofing tips to students, he reminds them to stay alert while wearing earphones.
"If you are going to wear an iPod or headphones or something like that, you keep the level low enough so you can still hear ambient noise," Guest said.
It's a warning Stephen FitzGerald heeds. The 38-year-old works in the music industry and, two years ago, traded in his daily newspaper to listen to tunes on his iPod during his half-hour commute to work in Toronto.
But he says his surroundings are always on his radar.
"If I am walking outside, I don't have it that loud - you know traffic," he said. "I'm not that comfortable not hearing any outside noises."
The helicopter accident in British Columbia is the latest tragedy to illustrate how people wearing ear or headphones outdoors can put themselves at increased risk.
In 2007, a student in Grimsby, Ont. was killed while walking along train tracks. He failed to respond to the train's repeated whistles and was wearing his MP3 player earphones.
Also last year, a student in-line skating while wearing headphones in Windsor, Ont. slid under a tractor-trailer he failed to notice until the last minute.
In Australia, police have placed ads that show a teen lying on the ground - MP3 player splayed beside him - with a chalk outline around his body. The ads followed a campaign by a woman whose 16-year-old daughter was struck by a tram in 2004. The teen was wearing headphones.
Last year, New York Senator Carl Kruger's bill to ban the use of iPods, cellphones or other electronic devices while crossing the street was defeated. It was motivated by the death of a 21-year-old Brooklyn man who was listening to an iPod when he stepped in front of a bus.
While there are no laws in Canada dealing with the use of headphones while walking, it's illegal to wear them while riding a bicycle in both British Columbia and Quebec.
Kathy Pichora-Fuller, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, co-authored a study published in the Journal of Canadian Acoustics in 2006 that examined the use of portable audio devices by young people of high-school and university age.
Her students wanted to pursue the study after a series of news reports in the Canadian media outlined the dangers of hearing loss as a result of iPod use.
The study showed the youths were most likely to use the devices when they were bored. Often, that's also when they were jogging, biking or sitting on the bus.
The study also showed listeners were more likely to turn up the volume to drown out the noise of their surrounding environment, such as traffic.
"You kind of put yourself into the worst possible situation," said Pichora-Fuller. "People...focus on the music and become oblivious to their surroundings".
Rick Broadhead, a Toronto based technology and Internet expert, said most people who use cellphones or listen to music through earphones use common sense. He does not attribute an accidents, such as the one involving the helicopter, to the use of headphones.
"He did not do anything wrong ... it was just a freak accident," said Broadhead, about Otieno's death.
"This is not a case of this gentleman not exercising common sense," he said.
Map highlighting location of Cranbrook. 
A 23-year-old Kenyan man was crushed and killed and three others died after a helicopter crashed in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada on May 13. All on board the helicopter, two passengers and the pilot of the helicopter, were also killed. 

Considered a freak accident, the attention was not centered around the crash or those killed in it, but whether or not the volume on the iPod the 23-year-old pedestrian was allegedly listening to was too loud.

Isaiah Otieno, a student at the College of the Rockies arrived in Canada two years ago and was the son of Dalmas Otieno, Kenya's Minister of State for Public Service. He was walking down the street to retrieve his mail when the Bell 206 helicopter crashed on top of him, crushed him, then dragged his body along the pavement, with the helicopter bursting into flames. The helicopter pilot was unable to maintain altitude when it crashed, killing Otieno and those inside the helicopter, instantly. The cause of the crash is not known and is still being investigated, but media outlets such as ''The Globe and Mail'' criticized the boy for wearing headphones and having the volume turned up too high, which allegedly caused him not to hear the aircraft falling from the sky.

"He was a brilliant student, very considerate, very aggressive at times. He had strong leadership qualities. Everybody here is just shattered," stated Dalmas.
A Canadian Bell 206 helicopter, similar to the one that crashed. 
Despite the reports that Otieno was listening to his iPod, there has been no independent confirmation of those reports. ''Wikinews'' e-mailed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to confirm or deny the iPod reports, but has not yet received a response. 

Other deaths have been blamed on media players like the iPod. In 2007, a boy was killed after a train struck him in Grimsby, Ontario. The boy, who had headphones on at the time, was unable to hear the sounds of the train's horn as it approached, which subsequently struck and killed him.

The helicopter was owned by Bighorn Helicopters and was rented to BC Hydro, the Province's power and water authority. The Pilot has been identified as Edward William Kyle Heeb, 57. The other two individuals killed were employees for BC Hydro and have been identified as Dirk Bentley Rozenboom, 45 and Robert William Lehmann, 37. They were checking power lines along 14th street in Cranbrook, when according to witnesses, the engine stopped and the helicopter crashed in the intersection of 14th and 10th.

Despite the reports, a Canadian music consultant states that the accident involving the helicopter cannot be blamed on the use of Otieno's iPod.

"The average downtown street registers at around 60 decibels. A jet plane flying overhead is generally quoted at 120 to 130 decibels. If you are playing your music loud enough to cut out that level of noise, then you have it cranked to a degree that is damaging your hearing," said Geordon Hoag.