Desiree Tyler Horton (born May 18, 1971), nicknamed "Chopper Chick,"[2] is a helicopter pilot and television personality based in Los Angeles, California.

[5] She earned her pilot's license at 21, and since then has flown traffic watch, tours, frost control, charter, wildland firefighting, police operations, aerial construction, bank runs,[5] medical and organ transport.

[6] While flying for KNBC 4, Horton had to report the deaths of four of her fellow United States Forest Service firefighters (a fifth would later succumb to his injuries) in the arson-caused Esperanza Fire.

[2][7] Horton derives great satisfaction from fighting fires because she's saving people's property and maybe even their lives.

Horton, who is on the board of directors of the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association (PHPA), has over 7,400 hours (August 2008) in rotorcraft and says her dream is to work for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

With regard to Horton, LA 411 said: "A young woman with a breezy nature, youthful looks and bright smile, it's often assumed [on a movie set] that she can't possibly be there to fly an aircraft.

'"[5] The May 1, 2009 edition of the Smithsonian Institution's publication Air & Space/Smithsonian identifies Horton as "a specialized breed of aviator [that] has evolved, one adapted to the medium of live television" since the invention of the Telecopter.

[11] The show, which never left the development stage, was to put viewers inside the cockpit with Horton covering breaking news in the Los Angeles area.

[13] Due to KTLA's distribution via satellite as a "superstation," viewers from as far as Canada wrote to complain that Horton was no longer on the Morning News.