Drone Filming at Chernobyl Reactor 4 for CNN

Specialist drone cinematography at Chernobyl Reactor 4 and across the Exclusion Zone for CNN, filmed by Emmy-winning FPV pilot and drone cinematographer Lewis Whyld. The assignment documented the New Safe Confinement enclosing the destroyed reactor, alongside the abandoned city of Pripyat and the landscape surrounding the nuclear site. Working in a radiation-controlled environment required protective equipment, continuous personal radiation monitoring and careful management of where equipment could be placed or recovered. In contaminated areas, drones were hand-caught rather than landed on the ground, allowing aerial filming while limiting unnecessary contact with potentially contaminated surfaces.

Drone cinematography at Chernobyl Reactor 4 and across the Exclusion Zone for CNN, filmed by Lewis Whyld under radiation-controlled conditions. The assignment included aerial filming around the New Safe Confinement and Pripyat, with protective equipment, live radiation monitoring and hand-catching of drones used to reduce contact with contaminated ground.

Project Details

Client / Broadcaster: CNN
Production: CNN report on the growth of tourism in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Correspondent: Matthew Chance
Broadcast: 25 June 2019
Location: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine
Key Locations: Reactor 4, Pripyat and surrounding exclusion-zone sites
Role: Drone Cinematographer / 360 Drone Designer & Pilot — Lewis Whyld
Filming: Specialist aerial and immersive 360° drone cinematography
Aircraft: Lewis Whyld’s self-designed 360 Invisible Drone
Environment: Radiation-controlled, restricted-access nuclear site
Technical Approach: Custom 360° aerial system designed to capture immersive footage while minimising the aircraft’s visibility in the final image
Operating Constraints: Protective clothing, live radiation monitoring, strict contamination procedures and restricted handling of equipment
Ground Contact: Equipment could not be casually placed on contaminated ground; drones were hand-caught where required to reduce contact with contaminated surfaces
Story Focus: The rise of tourism in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone following renewed global interest in the disaster
Coverage: Reactor 4, Pripyat, abandoned infrastructure, exclusion-zone landscapes and the experience of moving through the site
Recognition: The 360 Drone system later won the 2019 Gannett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in Service of Digital Journalism at the Online Journalism Awards and also received Royal Television Society recognition
Specialism: 360° Drone / Immersive Journalism / Restricted Environments / Nuclear Sites / Technical Innovation / Broadcast Documentary / Drone Cinematography

Flying the 360 Invisible Drone at Chernobyl

For CNN’s immersive coverage of Chernobyl, Lewis Whyld used his self-designed and self-built 360 Invisible Drone — a specialist aerial VR platform developed to capture a complete spherical image while keeping the aircraft itself out of the finished view.

The system allowed the audience to experience Chernobyl from an aerial perspective without seeing a conventional drone suspended beneath or above the camera, creating the sensation of moving freely through the Exclusion Zone. CNN subsequently directed viewers to its virtual-reality coverage of the site following its 2019 reporting from Chernobyl.

The technology itself later received the Gannett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism at the 2019 Online Journalism Awards, where CNN credited Lewis Whyld with developing the custom 360° aerial capture system.

Designing the 360 Invisible Drone for Immersive Journalism

For CNN’s immersive coverage of Chernobyl, Lewis Whyld used his self-designed and self-built 360 Invisible Drone, developed specifically for aerial VR and spherical capture. The system was engineered to minimise the drone’s presence in the finished 360° image, allowing the viewer to experience the environment as if moving freely through the air rather than looking out from a conventional aircraft. At Chernobyl, that made it possible to create immersive aerial perspectives across the Exclusion Zone while operating within the same radiation-controlled and access-restricted conditions as the rest of the assignment. The platform combined custom aircraft design, camera integration and post-production requirements into a single specialist system built around the needs of immersive journalism.

Operating Drones in a Radiation-Controlled Environment

Filming at Chernobyl required a different approach to equipment handling and aircraft recovery. Lewis worked in protective clothing and carried live radiation monitoring equipment while operating around Reactor 4, Pripyat and other parts of the Exclusion Zone.
In contaminated areas, equipment could not simply be placed on the ground as it would on a conventional production. Drones were hand-caught after landing approaches to reduce unnecessary contact with contaminated surfaces and to keep aircraft and camera equipment as clean as possible.
The assignment therefore combined aerial cinematography with constant awareness of where the team could work, where equipment could be handled safely and how each flight could be recovered without introducing avoidable contamination.

Awards & Recognition

Lewis Whyld’s self-designed 360° drone system received major industry recognition for technical innovation in immersive journalism.

Online Journalism Awards:Winner — Gannett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism — CNN 360° Drone, 2019

The Online Journalism Awards recognised the development of CNN’s 360° aerial capture system, created by Lewis to make stable, immersive drone imagery possible while minimising the aircraft’s presence in the finished spherical view. The same specialist platform was used during CNN’s immersive filming at Chernobyl, bringing together custom aircraft engineering, aerial cinematography and VR storytelling in one of the world’s most restricted filming environments.

Royal Television Society: News Technology Award Finalist — CNN International, 2019
Technology: Self-designed and self-built 360 Invisible Drone
Creator: Lewis Whyld

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Planning Drone Filming in Restricted or High-Risk Environments?

Through Whyldthings, I provide specialist drone cinematography for documentary, broadcast and productions working in restricted, hazardous or technically demanding locations.
My experience includes nuclear sites, active conflict zones, volcanic eruptions, Arctic expeditions, heritage buildings and other environments where access, safety and equipment handling require careful planning.
At Chernobyl, that meant combining conventional aerial cinematography with a self-designed 360° drone system while working under radiation monitoring and contamination controls.
For productions that need specialist aerial access, custom camera systems or filming in difficult environments, the approach is built around the location, the story and the operational constraints.

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