An “ENG Helicopter” is simply a helicopter that is used by a television station to film a news story. Almost every major local TV station in the United States now uses a dedicated helicopter in its news programs. A station without its own helicopter is perceived as unsophisticated and unreliable. When major news breaks TV viewers scan through the stations and can be relied upon to stop when they see a live picture of the incident rather than a newscaster in a studio. More often than not the first picture comes from an ENG helicopter.
Most ENG pilots are not employed by the TV station. Instead they work for a helicopter company that contracts with the station. This is often a good thing since it gives the pilot a degree of protection from the sometimes-unreasonable demands of the news director. The TV industry is famously competitive and the pressure to be the first with the news can be intense. Most of the time however the struggle is to find a worthwhile story that can be shot from the air. The weather and the traffic provide the old reliables, but death and disasters are what grabs the ratings. When something big happens, such as a plane crash or an explosion, the station manager himself is screaming for the helicopter.
Two helicopters dominate the US ENG market – the Eurocopter AS350 and the Robinson R-44. The AS350 – commonly called the A-Star in the US or the Squirrel in Europe - is a fast, powerful, and roomy aircraft. When equipped with the latest gyro-stabilized camera it can provide a picture that is so stable it could have been taken from the top of a tall building. Some helicopters even have the new high-definition broadcast equipment, giving a crystal clear image. The A-Star also has the advantage of being able to carry a reporter and photographer to the scene of a story or to do a live report from the air.
Most of the time the pilot is an invisible part of the story, never appearing on the TV screen, but some stations give the pilot an on-air role. Bristow Academy graduate Rod Jamieson is an example. He and his dog have become celebrities in the San Francisco Bay Area where they both fly daily on the Channel 5 helicopter. Rod carries a photographer in addition to several fixed cameras installed in the helicopter. Viewers watch Rod as he flies the helicopter and reports the story, all the time under the relaxed gaze of his canine companion. The pair have become immensely popular with the audience and are constantly invited to appear at local events.
Countless Bristow Academy graduates have worked as ENG pilots over the past 10-15 years. For most it was their first job after building up flight hours by working as a flight instructor. Typically they have enjoyed the experience but felt the urge to move on to other things after a couple of years. An ENG pilot often works a very long day, starting with daybreak traffic and finishing with the evening rush-hour coverage. He may have a few hours off in the middle of the day but he is always on call and expected to respond immediately. One advantage of this job however is that the pilot almost always sleeps in his/her own bed – no nights stuck on oil-rigs or in fire-fighting camps.
Pay rates in the ENG sector have always been some of the lowest in the helicopter industry but in the last couple of years there has been a significant improvement. Both the TV stations and the helicopter companies with which they contract for services are trying harder to hold on to good pilots by raising salaries and improving benefits. However, the lure of celebrity and the perceived glamour of the TV industry still enables employers to find pilots who will work for less than this challenging job deserves.
