News helicopter

A news helicopter photographed close enough to read its registration: N88892 on the tail boom, NEWS down the fuselage, and REPORTING THE RIGHT NEWS lettered under the open door a cameraman is leaning out of.

This is one of the best images in the database. It comes from Rockstar's own 3840 by 2160 press pack rather than a video frame, so the lettering is transcribed here rather than interpreted. The registration N88892 runs along the tail boom in black. NEWS is set in red down the fuselage side. Below the open cabin door, on a white panel, REPORTING THE RIGHT NEWS is stacked in three lines of black type.

The livery is white over red with a black flash along the top of the cabin and a red nose cap. The tail fin carries diagonal red and white candy stripes. A cameraman sits in the open doorway in an olive flight suit, a shoulder camera on a mount in front of him; the pilot is visible in the right-hand seat. The main rotor is turning and two blades are in frame. The aircraft is banking over a bright, hazy sky.

One detail is worth putting on the record because it cuts against the reference lists. This helicopter is sitting on skids: a straight tube runs under the fuselage on a pair of angled cross struts, clearly visible at the bottom of the frame. Both of the real-world helicopters this one is usually matched to carry retractable wheels instead. That does not settle anything on its own, but it is the kind of detail that is easy to check and worth checking.

How to recognise it

• Registration N88892 in black along the tail boom
• NEWS in red down the fuselage side
• REPORTING THE RIGHT NEWS in three lines under the cabin door
• Red and white candy-striped tail fin
• Skid landing gear on angled cross struts
• Cameraman with a shoulder camera in the open door, pilot in the right seat

The frame it comes from

The frame is a still from the official Press pack, which carries no timecode. It is 3840 by 2160, and the vehicle occupies 1597 by 581 of it. Also in it: Mount Kalaga National Park.

What we still do not know

• The manufacturer name in the game. Nothing on the airframe carries a maker's badge at this resolution.
• The real-world donor. The published matches point at a light twin with retractable wheels; the aircraft here has skids.
• Whether the news channel behind the slogan is a nameable in-game brand
• Everything measured: top speed, handling, whether it can be flown at all

A note on this record

Recorded from the official press pack, which has no timecode. The frame is a still, so the provenance line on this page names the screenshot rather than a moment in a trailer.