A go-getter, always wanting to be there to bring you the breaking news story. That was 3TV photographer Jim Cox.

"I'm sure as soon as he heard the police chase, he was there, pulling the chopper out of the hangar and ready to go," said 3TV photographer Mike Schmidt.

"He was our best and brightest star in many ways," said 3TV chief photographer Mike Conlee.

Cox, as he was know in the newsroom, joined Arizona's Family 12 years ago. While he started out at 3TV as a live-truck driver, his passion was the camera. He was already a master at taking still photographs. He learned to master a news camera.

"He was one of the greatest photographers this staff ever had," Conlee said.

But it wasn't just about the story to Cox.

"He had passion for the people he covered," Conlee said.

"He was extremely creative," Schmidt said. "He had a gift."

Schmidt was following the police chase on the ground when hear the police scanners.

"All of a sudden, a police helicopter called and said, 'Two helicopters crashed. They hit each other. They're going down!'" Schmidt said.

Schmidt and I arrived on the scene within seconds of that call.

"I looked around and saw the callings and that's when I knew it was ours," Schmidt said.

"For that to happen, literally right over my head..." Schmidt said, holding back tears.

On his MySpace page, Cox, 37, described himself as a "simple, sappy hard-working native New Yorker."

"I love my job," he wrote.

Cox died doing what he loved most -- chasing a story from the air.

"Cox was part of the dream team, and now part of that team is lost," Conlee said.