Pilot Michael Young, Chief Photographer Dan Chesser and I were hovering over Fern Creek when the call came from base. "We need you to get to Louisville International Airport as soon as possible."

Earlier in the day, our assignment desk had heard over the scanners a report of "smoke in the cockpit." That turned out to be only a drill, but it was the first thing I thought of when our newsroom diverted us to the airport.

As we headed west, the true nature of our assignment was revealed. Larry Birkhead had landed in a private jet with his cause-celebre daughter and her nanny in tow. Even those of us who don't read US Magazine or watch the entertainment news shows know Birkhead's name and his claim to fame: being the father of the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter, (determined after a protracted, nasty, bizarre circus of a paternity battle).

He had landed at Atlantic Aviation, where travelers don't have to go through a terminal and its associated nuisances.

And so with my limited knowledge of Smith, her husband Howard K. Stern and the baby, I had Chesser open my headset microphone in Sky11 to narrate the unfolding drama to the viewers watching our video streamed live on WHAS11.com. Did you happen to see it? Let me know at joe.arnold@whas11.com.

I was surprised at how much I could remember of the saga, and how surreal it was to be reporting on an "entertainment" story that had already received a ridiculous amount of attention on nearly every media outlet in America and beyond.

And so, I kept my eyes trained on the small jet's stairway and with no resemblance to Mary Hart or her voice, let viewers know when Birkhead stepped off the plane and walked to the gaggle of waiting media, and when his infant daughter was carried to a waiting SUV.

Thanks to Dan and Michael for correcting me on the baby's name. I said "Danielle." For the record, it's "Dannielynn."

Then, it got really surreal. We tracked Birkhead's entourage from the airport to Preston Highway, I-65, I-264, I-71, US42 and finally the Hunting Creek subdivision in Oldham County. I half expected to see OJ's white Bronco in the pursuit. It was that surreal. Sky11 bumped in the wake of another news helicopter. We helped guide reporter Kirby Adams and photojournalist Forrest Clem as they chased Birkhead on the roads.

Finally, with about one minute of fuel left before we had to turn back for Bowman Field, Birkhead's SUV pulled into the garage of a home in that Oldham County estate development. We had gotten all the shots possible, and we turned for home.

Speaking of home... Welcome home, Larry. At the end of the day and absent the glare of the media, this is about an 8 month old girl who will grow up without her mother and whose entire life is predetermined to include constant attention. I pray her fate is happier and different than her late mother's and brother's. Maybe Louisville is just low key enough that she could grow up here and we would live her alone.

In the mean time, Sky11 has quite a zoom lens.