Tommy Lee stopped by police

Tommy Lee was stopped by police while in his helicopter.

The Motley Crue rocker was a passenger in the helicopter when officers forced it to land at Los Angeles' Van Nuys airport amid concerns the pilot was flying erratically at 10.45am yesterday (01.02.09).

Police reportedly first noticed the helicopter when it flew underneath and "too close" to a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) chopper.

Although Tommy was not held, officers were keen to speak to the pilot.

However, once he had landed they could not locate him. According to gossip website TMZ, police found him drinking alcohol at a nearby hotel 10 minutes after touchdown.

It has also been claimed he was given strong alcoholic spirit vodka to drink before law enforcement officers caught up with him.

He was reportedly taken away by officers and given a blood alcohol test.

Tommy, 46, is a huge fan of flying and last year set a new world record by getting a tattoo while 45,000ft in the air.

Tattoo artist Mario Barth, who inked a large peacock on Tommy, said at the time: "I actually came up with the idea a couple of years ago, and I was just waiting for the right guy to do it with it because it's so unusual. I put the tattoo machine down a minute before we touched down."