The

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

Telecopter was the world's first

television news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

, which first went into operation in 1958 and was invented by

John D. Silva John D. Silva (1920-2012) was the chief engineer for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California and is most famous for inventing the first telecopter, or a helicopter fitted with a TV camera in 1958. John D. Silva was born in San Diego, California on ...

. The on-board video and audio equipment communicated with a line of sight KTLA transmitter receiver on top of Mount Wilson. The first helicopter was leased to KTLA by National Helicopter Service and Engineering Company in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

. For several years, KTLA (channel 5) was the only TV station with a helicopter based TV camera crewed reporting platform. The Telecopter was designed and introduced by KTLA chief engineer John D. Silva (1920-2012)."John D. Silva dies at 92; introduced news helicopter", Bob Pool, ''Los Angeles Times'', December 7, 2012

Versions

The first three ''Telecopters'' were as follows:

References

Helicopters Television news 1958 establishments in California {{aircraft-stub