Desiree Horton
| Desiree Horton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
May 18, 1971 North Hollywood, California |
| Residence | Chatsworth, California |
| Other names | "Chopper Chick" and "Heli-Barbie" |
| Occupation | helicopter pilot, television news reporter, firefighter |
| Employer | Air Resources Helicopters, Inc.; Angel City Air; Aris/Heli-Flite; California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection; Corona, California Police Department; Helinet Aviation; High Performance Helicopters; KCBS 2; KTLA 5; KCAL 9; KTTV 11; Midwest Helicopter Airways; Platinum Helicopters; truTV; United States Forest Service |
| Known for | Los Angeles' only female helicopter pilot/reporter |
| Website | http://copterchick.blogspot.com |
Desiree Tyler Horton (born May 18, 1971), nicknamed "Chopper Chick," is a helicopter pilot and television personality based in Los Angeles, California. She is one of the few female helicopter pilots/on-camera reporters in Los Angeles television history.
Horton began to fly at age 19, shortly after graduation from North Hollywood High School in North Hollywood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. She worked two jobs (at a car dealership and a pharmacy) for two and a half years to pay for her training. She explained, "I could only afford to take lessons once a week or once every other week as I made the money to pay for them." She also washed local pilot/reporter Scott Reiff's helicopter in exchange for flying hours. At one point, Horton was a stuntwoman, riding horses for films.
She earned her pilot's license at 21, and since then has flown traffic watch, tours, frost control, charter, wildland firefighting, police operations, aerial construction, bank runs, medical and organ transport. She has also ferried helicopters across the U. S.
From 2001 to 2005, Horton flew and reported for KABC 7 in Los Angeles. She was with KTLA 5 in Los Angeles from April 2005 to October 2005, flying their helicopter and reporting traffic and breaking news for the KTLA Morning News.Los Angeles magazine says, "The most memorable and unfortunate event Horton ever covered was in 2002, when five-year-old Samantha Runnion was kidnapped from her home in Stanton [California] and murdered. 'I hate to bring this up, but I was the first one on the scene when they discovered her body in the mountains. The police hadn't covered her up yet, and with my 1,000-millimeter zoom lens I could see everything.'"
Los Angeles magazine's claim is debatable since on October 29, 2006, while flying for KNBC 4, Horton had to report the deaths of four of her fellow United States Forest Service firefighters (a fifth would later succumb to his injuries) in the arson-caused Esperanza Fire. The next day, Horton herself would be fighting that fire from the air.
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Wikipedia