“We believe we should look to differentiate ourselves from other television stations in the market,” [WCAU vice president of news Anzio] Williams said. “It was hard to differentiate ourselves when we were using the same pictures.”

He added, “We wanted to make sure that everything we do is better. And by getting SKYFORCE 10, we now have the opportunity to have closer images, and we can take viewers where we want to. We wanted to have the best possible tool we could put in the air.”

[...] Williams’ competition says it isn’t particularly impressed by SKYFORCE 10. Jim Driscoll, Fox 29′s vice president/news director, doesn’t think that the strategy is forward-thinking. continued…

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The partnership, which officially begins Monday afternoon, is a pooling agreement on a non-exclusive basis. Until last year, KTTV shared a helicopter with NBC-owned KNBC; KCBS-KCAL has been operating their own helicopter.

A Fox spokesperson said no staff reductions are expected at KTTV as a result of the agreement. The station says the partnership will lead to more content and a more efficient use of resources. The Fox Television Stations Group has helicopter sharing agreements in 13 markets.

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The 40-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, aimed a red laser several times at the TV station’s helicopter Monday night as it flew about 1,000 feet over the scene of the incident on the 1700 block of Seminary Avenue in East Oakland, in which an undercover Oakland officer was shot in the arm.

The man also shined the laser at a CHP Cessna 206 airplane that was circling at about 3,500 feet, said CHP Officer Tom Lipsey, who was on board.

Shining a laser an an plane is a felony, the Chronicle reports. No one aboard either aircraft was injured.

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WNYW was previously part of a helicopter sharing agreement with WNBC, the NBC O&O. Fox and NBC ended their New York agreement, and a similar one with their respective stations in Los Angeles, earlier this year. WNBC and KNBC now have their own choppers.

WCBS ended a helicopter-sharing agreement with WPIX, the CW affiliate, earlier this year. Costs associated with news choppers run a station approximately $1 million per year.

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Rather than sending up a helicopter from each station for each news broadcast, Terrell said, pilots will fly in shifts. Only one helicopter from member stations — including KABC, KCBS/KCAL, KMEX, KNBC/KVEA, KTLA and KTTV –- will go up at a time. He said the pool plan calls for three flights per night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings prior to each major newscast at 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. respectively. He said one helicopter will also be sent out about 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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KTLA pilot Tim Lynn declared an emergency on the radio as Catalano could be heard declaring, “5′s got trouble! I don’t know what’s wrong… Dude he’s on fire!”

Lynn made an emergency landing in an empty parking lot at Hollywood Boulevard and Franklin Avenue. Lynn and KTLA photographer Jeff Laabs got out, uninjured.

“You never know, you never know when your time is going to come,” Laabs says. “And, thankfully, today was not mine. But, thank you to Tim, the Lord, and just everyone for looking out. I’m glad we made it down safely.”

Fire officials said a crack in the engine caused an oil leak leading to the thick smoke.

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The first video shows the WSOC news helicopter continuing to track the suspect, who reached a speed of 100 miles an hour, after police broke off the chase for safety reasons.

The Highway Patrol used information from WSOC’s broadcast to locate the suspect who had parked under a grove of trees at a construction site. After the jump, his arrest.

continued…

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Portland police arrested a suspected bank robber on Wednesday afternoon with a little help from the KATU news helicopter.

The suspect allegedly robbed a bank in Hazel Dell, WA, and drove a black Toyota Sequoia over the state line into Oregon. KATU, Portland’s ABC-affiliate, broadcast the car chase live. continued…

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WPIX

WPIX, the CW-affiliate, and WCBS, the CBS O&O, teamed up in 2009 to share a helicopter as a way to cut expenses. WPIX has ended the deal and leased its own chopper.

The costs associated with leasing a helicopter can run a station about $1 million annually, according to the Daily News. New York’s WNBC, the NBC O&O, and WNYW, the Fox O&O, also recently ended a helicopter-sharing deal that was enacted in 2009.

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Los Angeles news helicopters were out in full force early this morning as police and animal rangers tried to track down a 600-pound bear who was roaming the city’s residential streets.  The bear was eventually contained in a backyard, but not before one unsuspecting man came face to face with the wild animal.

Tracking the bear’s movements throughout the morning, KTLA‘s news helicopter captured the chance encounter: the man was walking along an alleyway, texting, when he suddenly spotted the bear in front of him (video above). continued…

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Dan McCarthy, who is the helicopter pilot for the Orlando NBC-affiliate, spotted the two kayakers and relayed their location to the authorities with the help of the WESH assignment desk.

The station reported on the stranded kayakers throughout the afternoon newscasts. “I don’t think I could talk a boat in,” McCarthy said. “It’s such a maze out here.”

The authorities were able to send a rescue boat to the women’s location using the latitude and longitude provided by McCarthy. Watch video of the rescue here (the WESH video player does not allow embedding).

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KNBC in Los Angeles, which has been sharing aerial coverage with Fox O&O KTTV for the past two years, has already received a new helicopter. WNBC in New York will get its helicopter later this year.

B&C has details on the purchases fitting in to a larger strategy at the NBC O&Os:

Addressing the crowd at NATPE Jan. 23, Ted Harbert, chairman of NBC Broadcasting, spoke about his desire to turn the owned stations around by investing big in news coverage. “We took $20 million, hired 130 people, bought helicopters in New York and Los Angeles, and put a lot of trucks on the ground,” he said.  continued…

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Arreguin, who likened the noise to that of “a war zone,” is planning on penning a letter to area stations, asking that they carefully evaluate whether aerial coverage is necessary for reporting and that they consider flying helicopters at 1,000 feet or higher.

Ed Chapuis, the news director at KTVU, told the Chronicle the decision to use a helicopter for aerial coverage is always a careful one. continued…

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The chopper pilot reported during the early evening newscast he was being evacuated from the area over Canal Street, where protesters were on the move toward the Brooklyn Bridge. NBC owned-and-operated WNBC reported that information on Twitter, where it was retweeted by more than 100 people.

The station later issued a correction, saying the NYPD had not issued an evacuation order and the chopper, which had briefly moved to nearby Foley Square, had returned to its original location. A WNBC spokesperson told TVSpy the erroneous report was the result of a misunderstanding between the chopper pilot and the control tower. continued…

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Veteran helicopter pilot Rick Crabbs and photojournalist Tom Fergus were up in KSAZ‘s news chopper on Wednesday when a bird slammed into the aircraft, leaving a gaping hole and forcing Crabbs to land the helicopter (video above).

Crabbs and Fergus were on their way to cover a fire in Scottsdale when the helicopter was struck by a dove.  Neither of them were injured and Crabbs was able to safely land the aircraft.

“We were probably doing about 120 knots about 140 miles when we heard a big bang,” Crabbs recalled, and “all the sudden feathers were flying all over inside the aircraft.” [h/t NewsBlues]

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