His request to take pictures of a mountainside fire approved, the ABC News photographer quickly uses a cellphone to call the local airport to charter a flight. He is told a single-engine plane will be waiting for him at the airport.
Arriving at the airfield, he spots a plane warming up outside a hangar.
He jumps in with his bag, slams the door shut, and shouts: "Let's go."
The pilot taxies out, swings the plane into the wind and takes off.
Once in the air, the photographer instructs the pilot: "Fly over the valley and make low passes so I can take pictures of the fire on the hillsides."
"Why?" asks the pilot.
"Because I'm a photographer for ABC Cable News," he responds, "and I need to get some close-up shots."
The pilot is strangely silent for a moment. Finally he stammers: "So, what you're telling me is... you are not my flight instructor?"
Arriving at the airfield, he spots a plane warming up outside a hangar.
He jumps in with his bag, slams the door shut, and shouts: "Let's go."
The pilot taxies out, swings the plane into the wind and takes off.
Once in the air, the photographer instructs the pilot: "Fly over the valley and make low passes so I can take pictures of the fire on the hillsides."
"Why?" asks the pilot.
"Because I'm a photographer for ABC Cable News," he responds, "and I need to get some close-up shots."
The pilot is strangely silent for a moment. Finally he stammers: "So, what you're telling me is... you are not my flight instructor?"





