An Emmy-winning engineer who pioneered the use of helicopters for live television news coverage has died in Ventura County.
John Silva was chief engineer at KTLA in 1958 when he outfitted a rented helicopter with a camera, and gear to allow live television broadcasts.
It was a huge technical challenge, because he, and other engineers had to figure out a way to strip down the thousands of pounds of equipment then needed for remote telecasts down to a few hundred pounds which could be carried on a helicopter.
The technology worked, and KTLA was the first station in the world to provide live aerial coverage of breaking events like fires, floods, and riots.
Silva died in Camarillo, as a result of complications from pneumonia. He was 92 years old.
