Flying into dangerous situations to bring all the latest pictures to television news channels across the US, is all in a day's work for James Carmichael from Tenbury Wells.

The newsgathering helicopter pilot, who recently covered the fires which raged through parts of California, a former Tenbury High School and Ludlow College student, is used to 'flying by the seat of his pants.'

Before qualifying as a pilot, James was a dealer in futures and commodities on the London Stock Exchange.

When James first moved with his family to Tenbury Wells he was a primary school, pupil and as he grew older he became an enthusiastic member of the junior section of Ludlow Golf Club. Then, at Ludlow College he enjoyed long cycle rides.

But all that changed when he gained a Masters degree in aviation management at Southampton University. and then, when he went to the US to train as a pilot, it was 'up, up and away' into his present career.

Now, at the age of 33, he is contracted to major news networks across the US taking crews to film high and low profile newsworthy incidents in his 'Squirrel', a French -built single engine Eurocopter, kitted out with a gyro-stabilised camera pod, camera, recording equipment and of course, cameraman.

Working shifts to provide 24-hour cover, he takes to the air for traffic and weather reports, automobile crashes and major highway incidents, police stand-offs with SWAT teams, hostage situations, hot pursuits along motorways, criminal arrests and, sometimes, he is caught up in explosions.

But when the call to launch comes from the news editor, James is off like a shot, rotor blades whirring to beat the competition in the airways.

He explained: "When flying for news, it's got to be a fast response because it's my job to reach the location story quickly and get the cameraman to the best angle.

"Situations can get very ugly and there are ground rules that all pilots and TV stations agree to," James said. "When we go live, we never show bodies or people seriously injured. Families don't want to see that and news stations agree not to film it. In police stand-offs we have to be careful how much we film, but news stations love them and like to break into regular programmes for coverage."

"Because we work with the police and have a job to do, SWAT tactics are filmed very close up to avoid wide angled shots that might give away police positions -- the bad guys watch live TV too," he added.

The fires and forest blazes that hit the Western side of the US have been another high-profile assignment for James and his flying news teams.

Northern California has been particularly badly hit and up to 30,000 home owners have been evacuated with many hundreds losing their homes. While lessons learned from past devastation have helped prevent similar urban fires, in the Bay area of San Francisco during the summer, woodland and open range fires can rip through forests in a flash. It's at these times we learn to respect the possibility of explosions and fly a little higher."

Just in case his mother Ann Carmichael from Redgate Drive, Tenbury Wells, and 92-year-old grandma reads about his escapades James confided: "Flying helicopters for a living is not inherently dangerous or particularly challenging most of the time. But when combined with filming for a major news network, hovering high over a 1,000-acre wildfire an otherwise quiet day can change dramatically."