Protecting the sky above the Coachella festival

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - Coachella Valley Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz made the case that the sky above 125-thousand festival goers is not fully protected.

He is now pushing a federal bill that would restrict aircraft over large outdoor concerts.

This isn't the first time this bill has been introduced, but it comes after a plane towing a banner crashed last year near the festival grounds. 

News Channel 3's Garrett Hottle was at a roundtable meeting on the bill and joins us from the newsroom with the new argument and new momentum behind this bill.

Federal law bans planes from flying over NFL stadiums, NASCAR races, and MLB games. But Coachella with more than a million people expected across two weekends, doesn't get the same automatic protection.

"We need to close that final gap to make sure that manned aircraft are also automatically restricted from flying over open-air concerts, so that these gentlemen don't have that anxiety and are chasing risks. Instead, they are mitigating and preventing them."

Last April, a Cessna towing a banner made an emergency landing near Avenue 49 after circling the festival grounds. Today, Indio Police Chief Brian Tully described another incident, a plane dropping thousands of leaflets over the area years earlier, with no warning.

"There was a small manned aircraft that wanted to advertise another event," Tully explained. "They started dropping thousands upon thousands of leaflets all across the campground area and venue. We had no idea. We had no pre-planning. and the unknown factor concerns us greatly."

The bill has been introduced three times, and currently has no cosponsors. Ruiz says he's building bipartisan momentum.

 "There's interest from different members from Florida, from Las Vegas," Ruiz said. "We're working with the committee as well, and we're working with senators to get this introduced in the Senate."

Coachella Weekend 1 opens Friday. Whether this bill moves forward is still an open question, but the people tasked with keeping the festival safe say the current system isn't enough.