The Helicopter Crash

and the newscaster

Whenever a Medevac helicopter landed on North Captiva Island, the dirt trails leading to the airstrip were blocked so that no one would be hurt by the swirling blades. Early one morning, though, the trails were open during an emergency rescue because the copter crashed a hundred yards offshore in Pine Island Sound.

I tried to get a closer look from the skiff on my way to pick up the building crew, but officials in other boats waved me away. When I arrived at the marina, there was a large boat painted black near the entry with a dozen men on board dressed in black. I waved, but they ignored me. It was a Homeland Security boat that patrolled the waters at night and didn’t want to be seen.

At five p.m., I took the building crew back to the marina. As I docked, I saw a local news station van parked in the lot, told the boys to shut ‘er down and tie up, and jumped out of the boat like a kangaroo. From a distance, I saw the beautiful news woman that I watched every night. I asked her if she needed a ride to the crash site. She said yes! And she and her cameraman followed me to the boat. We arrived near the crash site and were waved away again until she flashed her badge. The woman told me that I was her new cub reporter as we circled the site. As the sky darkened, I took them back to shore.

And I thought, when do you ever get to see your newscaster crush in person!

Story by Michael Jackson Smith - About me