John Massey

John Massey, known to viewers of WAVY-TV's morning news as "Chopper John," came to WAVY TV 10 in 2000.

John brings more than three decades of flight experience to WAVY-TV and has flown more than 16,000 hours.

Born in Atlanta, John was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C., when he was accepted to flight school. After training at Ft. Rucker, Ala., he was assigned back to the 82nd Airborne with the 1/17 Air Cavalry.

Other duty stations include an overseas posting in Korea (with the 4/7 Air Cavalry) and at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Out of the service, John flew charter operations in Atlanta before joining WAGA-TV in that same city as a pilot/reporter.

During his tenure at WAGA, John earned two Emmy awards, and a total of seven Emmy nominations, for his reporting skills. John has also won an Emmy for his work at WAVY.

While most people think John spends all day flying Chopper 10, piloting the helicopter is just one part of his job. He's also responsible for all aspects of Chopper 10, including maintenance and adherence to all FAA requirements. Like any aircraft, every time the engine on Chopper 10 is started, a complete FAA paperwork trail must follow.

John truly enjoys his job. Flying Chopper 10, a state-of-the-art news gathering aircraft costing in excess of $1.5 million, is well worth the 24/7, on-call schedule.

John calls Virginia Beach home.

Get in touch with John

• Email: john.massey@wavy.com
• John Massey on Facebook
• John's WAVY.com Blogs
• Click here to download John's photo