Bruce Haffner, chopper pilot and reporter for KTVK, has announced he is leaving the Phoenix independent station.
“I’ve been at Channel 3 my whole career and they’ve given me an incredible opportunity to do what I’ve done for the past 20 years,” Haffner told The Arizona Republic. “They’ve spent a lot of money on me and put me where I’m at right now. I owe them my career.”
According to The Republic, the lease between Haffner’s company Chopperguy, the station and the helicopter’s sponsor is expiring.
“I’m totally loyal to Channel 3,” Haffner said. “I never thought about going anywhere, but now that I own a million-dollar helicopter, I have to go where the work is.”
Haffner started at KTVK as a photographer in 1984 and became the station’s chopper pilot in 1995.