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| Helicopter Crash Scene Courtesy of KOMO-TV Seattle, WA |
Seattle, WA—Tragedy struck this
morning as a TV news helicopter crashed near the landmark Space Needle. At least two people are reported dead and
another is listed in critical condition at a local hospital. At least three cars have been set on fire as
result of the crash.
TV news helicopters have a
relatively good safety record, but every few years somewhere, these horrible
accidents are repeated.
Over the years I’ve lost
friends in crashes in Phoenix, AZ and Denver, CO that lost their lives covering
news from the air. Trust me, it always
hurts.
Aerial news coverage is
necessary but can be a little risky. It
is also the single most expensive cost of most TV news organizations.
TV news has lost a major
portion of its audience and revenue and many news organizations have curtailed
or eliminated helicopter coverage altogether.
Technology has brought us
something far lass risky or expensive, the camera armed, Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle. These devices are very light,
inexpensive, safe and perfect for gathering and broadcasting news video.
The little drones can cost at
little at $1000.00 with the popular high definition GoPro cameras or as much as
$15,000 with a larger camera such as the Canon 5D DSLR with live broadcasting
capability. Either way it’s only a
fraction of the cost of operating a helicopter.
The upside is that accidents
with quadcopters are nearly always free from damage or injury. They are so light that should they fall from
the sky there is little or no damage in most cases. The size of the quadcopters range from a small
to an extra large pizza.
Medium and small market TV
stations can keep several of these quadcopters in their broadcast arsenals at
little cost. They are also much quicker
to deploy for a news story than those helicopters they now rely upon
They can operate as long as
25 minutes before they are brought down for a quick battery change.
Those sensational and famous
Los Angeles freeway chases are not currently suitable for the quadcopters
because they often go on for hours and many miles.
In riots helicopters are
often shot at from the ground. That’s dangerous to say the least. Quadcopters are a much smaller moving target
and lives are not at risk should they be hit by gunfire.
A Denver federal judge has just
reversed the FAA ban on commercial use of these drones. Use of drones by hobbyists was always allowed
but now news organizations are free to employ these devices.
I know for sure that
employing drones will slow down the steady downpour of pink slips in newsrooms
because they are so incredibly cost effective.
I can predict the immediate
hiring of quadcopter multimedia journalist-pilots that can also edit the raw
video into news packages on laptops in their vehicles at various news
events.
In the long run the use of
drones will bring more use or aerial video than the helicopters simply because
of the ease and reduced cost involved.
Another advantage is the
drones can easily operate at much lower altitudes. In fact the FAA wants them no higher than 400
feet. Aerial video from just 30 to 75
feet is truly amazing.
The drones can be effectively
flown and operated after only a few hours of practice. News organizations cannot afford, not to
employ these gee whizz gizmos if they are serious about their mission and
financial survival.
Below is my first video
flight of my Blade 350 quadcopter and GoPro Hero3+ camera. The cost of this bare bones package was about
$1000.00. I was able to do this with only
about an hour’s instruction and practice.
I edited this video on a laptop with Final Cut pro X software.
Here is some exceptional night video over Los Angeles with a DJI Phantom II with a GoPro:
Here is some exceptional night video over Los Angeles with a DJI Phantom II with a GoPro:
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