News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | Mason Dunn

Mason Dunn

Mason Dunn joined News 9 in November 2002 as the pilot and reporter for the Ranger 9 helicopter. In 2006, he became the pilot for one of the most advanced television helicopters in America - SkyNews 9 HD.

His love for flying began as a teenager. At the age of 15, he was hired as a dishwasher at a local restaurant. The restaurant owner was Tom Jones, a pilot for the world famous Coors Light Silver Bullets and the creator and air show director of Aerospace America. Jones took Dunn flying for the first time and it was love at first flight.

After leaving the restaurant some years later, Dunn remained in contact with and became a ground crew member on Jones' Pitts S-2S aerobatic airplane.

In April 1990, Dunn became a member of the ground crew for the Coors Light Silver Bullet jet team. His first job with the Bullets was filming a national commercial in St. George, Utah's Snow Canyon. After returning from Utah, Dunn traveled to Waco, Texas to visit his mentor Tom Jones. It was the last time Dunn would see Jones alive as he perished in a flying accident during Aerospace America in 1990.

After Jones' death, Dunn continued his involvement in air shows. For the next five years, Dunn traveled around the world, managing and narrating air shows for the World's Smallest Jets. In 1995, Dunn left the air show business to start his career in the air.

Dunn received his private pilot's license with the intention of pursuing a career flying in various air shows across the United States. His plans soon changed after a close friend gave him a lesson in a helicopter, and he never looked back. In 1996, Dunn received his private helicopter license and has flown more than 4,000 hours in seven types of helicopters.

Dunn is an award winning pilot and reporter. He has won the highest award in television, the National Edward R. Murrow Award, for his coverage of the 2008 tornado outbreak. He has been recognized for spotting and reporting tornados from the air, for leading rescuers to a young girl struggling in flood waters, and by PETA for using the helicopter to push a deer to safety on a frozen lake. Dunn also received a certificate of commendation from the governor's office, and was given honorary state fire marshal status for his coverage of the sweeping Oklahoma wild fires.