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Originally Posted by Terrell
Perhaps there should be a different division of labor in the craft, is it possible that the pilot's job should simply be to fly the chopper, while another person in the chopper control the camera? You know, put the camera on a mount that allows it's aim to be adjusted independently of the direction that the chopper is pointed. If it were set up that way, perhaps the pilot could focus on making sure he doesn't collide with other pilots. (the above paraagraph is based on some of the CNN coverage I've seen of the crash)
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News choppers (the good ones anyway) already have that setup. It's called a gyrocam. You can see it on the front of this one:
Generally a photographer runs the gyrocam - it has a little joystick to control it. In cheaper choppers the photographer opens the side door and shoots video out of it with a regular news camera.
The pilot almost never shoots video, but he's often expected to function as a reporter. It sounds like in at least one of the crashed choppers, the pilot was live on the air talking to the anchors -- IMO this should never happen - the pilot should be concentrating on flying the bird. Unfortunately many news helicopters can only carry two people because they're already so heavy with all the equipment they have. I know of one chopper in Iowa that had only enough capacity for the pilot (who acted as the reporter) and a VERY lightweight photographer - -they used to have to send the smallest intern they had for that to meet the weight restrictions.
The general problem is that news helicopters are being misused. They should be used to get crews quickly to a story that's a long way away, or to provide aerials of a scene where the cops aren't letting people on the ground get close enough to shoot video. They should not be used in police chases. Period. And if they are, they should not get reports live from the pilot. There is absolutely no reason to broadcast a police chase, especially live.