Captain Jeff Long

Captain Jeff Long, the pilot/reporter in Sky Eye Chopper 13, joined the WJZ Eyewitness News team in June 2012.

Capt. Jeff began his broadcasting career in 1986 as a journalist with the U.S. Navy, working in television and radio in Honduras and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  His last duty station was in Norfolk, Va., where he reported for Navy News This Week.   While in the Navy, Jeff won several Navy Chief of Information Awards, as well as Department of Defense Thomas Jefferson Awards for excellence in broadcasting.

Jeff is a graduate of the Defense Information School’s journalism and broadcasting programs.  He also studied communications at Penn State and Radio/TV at Tidewater Community College.

In 1991, Jeff moved to Memphis, where he worked as a video editor.  He settled in Maryland in 1994, and took a position as the production manager for a company that produced documentaries for A&E.  A few years later, he began freelancing in video production and aerial photography – a career that kept him busy while he built flight hours; first in airplanes, then in helicopters.

Capt. Jeff has worked as a flight instructor, tour pilot, charter pilot and news helicopter pilot in a variety of aircraft.  Sky Eye Chopper 13 is a Bell 206 JetRanger, outfitted with a FLIR broadcast video camera.  Jeff flies with a WJZ photojournalist and you can see their reports during the afternoon and evening newscasts, or anytime there is breaking news.

When he is not flying, Jeff enjoys playing blues guitar, boating and photography.  He and his wife Louise live on Kent Island.

You can follow Capt. Jeff on Twitter @SkyFocal.