Bob Tur

Bob Tur

Robert A. "Bob" Tur (born June 8, 1960) is an American scientific researcher, and news producer who used his knowledge of sensor physics and systems integration to build the first modern news helicopters for live news reporting. As a broadcast reporter, and eventual 10,000 hour commercial pilot, Tur created the Los Angeles News Service with fellow reporter, Marika Gerrard. Their news service was the first to use an AStar helicopter in a major city for the coverage of live breaking news, and the first to televise a high-speed police chase. Other noteworthy reporting included the attack on Reginald Denny during the L.A. Riots on April 29, 1992, and was the first to locate and televise O.J. Simpson's infamous slow-speed chase in 1994.

He was also called to cover what he describes in "Ultimate Police Chases" as "The weirdest chase he has ever been involved in" in approximately 1995. He was at home when he was called and requested to fly over the LA Freeway. When he and his team arrived at the location he found what he was asked to cover - several police units chasing a bus! The person who stole the bus was earlier in the bus company's office requesting work when he was informed that he was underqualified and had no experience. Angered by this he stole the bus. Bob Tur later said about this "He was rejected from a job driving a bus, but boy could he drive that bus". The Police eventually managed to capture the person, and he was sentenced to prison. However he was deemed as mentally incompetent and was sent to a mental institution and was released 10 years later in 2005.

In 2007 Bob Tur hosted his own documentary series on NBC's cable network, MSNBC, called Why They Run. The show reported on why criminal suspects ran from police, and included interviews with those actually involved in the country's most notorious police pursuits.

As a team, Tur and Gerrard received three Television News Emmy Awards; Two Edward R. Murrow Awards for broadcast excellence (for his reporting on the Loma Prieta/San Francisco Earthquake, and a feature on American Jews leaving their homes for Israel at a time of war); An Associated Press National Breaking News award; The NPPA Humanitarian Award (see below); several Golden Mikes; and numerous other local and national citations.

Tur has also been credited with locating nine missing aircraft, including Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771. The Pacific Southwest Airlines passenger jet suddenly dropped from radar, crashing in a remote mountain range near Paso Robles, California. An FBI investigation into the crash that killed all 44 people aboard found that a deranged and suicidal airline employee named David Burke smuggled a .44 Magnum revolver aboard the flight, using it to murder both the pilot and copilot while the doomed plane cruised at its assigned altitude of 22,000 feet (6,700 m).

Bob Tur has also been featured in well over two dozen programs, including NBC's Today, ABC's Nightline, Inside Edition, Rescue 911, and a two-part episode of the ITV documentary Police Camera Action! with Alastair Stewart in December 1996, called The Man Who Shot OJ. Tur is also a regular on the talk show circuit, frequently appearing on Fox News, CourtTV, and CBS. He currently has his own show on MSNBC, called "Why They Run".