Al Terzi

Al Terzi is a news anchor who works for WTIC-TV. Terzi has worked in Connecticut for all but two years since 1968. He is considered "the Dean of Connecticut news anchors."

Career

Al began with WTIC/WTIC-FM/WTIC-TV in June 1968 as a staff announcer. The station was owned by Travelers Insurance. When the Washington Post bought the station in 1973, Terzi remained as newscaster and talk show host. He was the original host when New England Journal, a one-hour daily talk show, debuted in 1974.

Terzi continued as news co-anchor until he left in June 1978 and then became News Anchor, then News Director, at WPEC-TV12 (ABC) in West Palm Beach, FL. In October 1978, Terzi was seriously injured when the twin-engine Cessna he piloted, with 4 other WPEC senior staff on board, had engine/fuel problems on approach to the Tallahassee, FL airport. He was forced to make an emergency landing in a small clearing, in the Appalachicola National Forest, south of the airport. During the landing, Terzi was seriously injured and knocked unconscious, when his face slammed into the plane's instrument panel. The other occupants, who were also injured, exited the plane and moved away from it, in case a fire broke out. They had left Terzi inside the plane. One of the passengers said it was assumed that he was dead, because of his severe bleeding and the fact that he was not moving. He soon regained consciousness, exited the plane on his own and joined the passengers who were awaiting medical help. After several surgeries, over a period of several months, Terzi returned to the anchor desk in May 1979.