There was an episode of the 1980s short-lived series "J.J. Starbuck" in which the murderer (Patrick O'Neal, who of course also played the role of a killer on "Columbo") was proven guilty because he knows how to fly a helicopter. Maybe this is somehow involved in the plot memory.

Ah, J.J. Starbuck. Not destined to become one of the classics, but it did have a few nice Columboesque stories. In addition to the O'Neal episode, there were a couple of nice ones with Kelsey Grammer as a classic pianist (there would be a fantastic Columbo villain, just ask Bart Simpson) and Richard Mulligan (Soap) as a children's book author. Starbuck himself was a Texas millionnaire who criminals tended to view as an eccentric rich hayseed.

The show (by Rockford creator Stephen Cannell) also was noteworthy for resurrecting Ben Vereen's conman character Tenspeed Turner from the Cannell comedy P.I. series Tenspeed and Brownshoe. Unfortunately, about that time, the show turned from Columbo-style mysteries to cheesy adventure-type plots.