The documentary on the world’s largest cave in Vietnam’s Quang Binh Province by ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) team recently won a prize at a drone film festival in the U.S.

‘Hidden Worlds: Son Doong Cave’ took home the ‘News & Documentary’ award at the New York City Drone Film Festival, which took place from March 4 to 6 at the Directors Guild of America Theater.

A GMA team member nicknamed Visualaerials could not hide his joy at receiving the award, continuously updating the great news on his Instagram account.

“This was one challenging project - requiring two trips into the world’s largest cave. Flying a drone in there was not a simple undertaking - doing a live TV broadcast from the perspective of the drone was even more difficult. But we had an incredible ABC Good Morning America team and together we made it happen,” he said.

The man also posted several photos capturing his team standing in Son Doong Cave, emcee Ginger Zee standing on top of a colossal stalagmite, and Maria Stefanopoulos, production manager at ABC News, holding the award.

Ginger Zee, the host of ‘Good Morning America,’ standing on top of a colossal stalagmite in Son Doong Cave. Photo: Screenshot from Instagram

In May last year, the GMA team went to Son Doong Cave and its neighbor, En (Swallow) Cave, both secluded in the main area of the UNESCO-recognized Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, and did the report live with their drone.

En Cave is around two kilometers from Son Doong.

The two-hour show, watched by an average of six million viewers every day, later wowed a huge number of American viewers thanks to the magnificence of the caves.

The broadcast featured amazing drone shots of the two grottos, as well as its fairytale-like landscapes outside the caves.

Another highlight was the crew’s activities including cooking, erecting tents, enjoying meals and building camp fires inside the two caves.

The program also included a video of the UNESCO-recognized Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh; the Son River, which snakes its way through Quang Binh; and other rural charms of the country.

Maria Stefanopoulos, production manager at ABC News, holding the ‘News & Documentary’ award for her show ‘Good Morning America Hidden Worlds: Son Doong Cave’. Photo: Screenshot from Instagram

Now in its 40^th year, ‘Good Morning America’ has been watched by generations of viewers who wake up to the show's award-winning combination of breaking news, hard-hitting interviews, exclusive investigations, and financial reporting.

‘New York City Drone Film Festival,’ founded in 2015 by Randy Scott Slavin, is the world's first event dedicated to celebrating the art of drone cinematography.

In its inaugural year, it received over 150 submissions from 19 countries.

The three-day event featured interactive panel discussions, guest speakers, screenings of nominated films and the annual awards ceremony.

The ‘pearl’ of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Son Doong Cave, which has a large, fast-flowing underground river inside, was found by local resident Ho Khanh in 1991.

It only became public after a group of British scientists from the British Cave Research Association, led by Howard and Deb Limbert, conducted a survey in Phong Nha-Ke Bang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in April 2009.

According to the Limberts, Son Doong Cave is five times larger than Phong Nha Cave, previously considered the biggest grotto in Vietnam.

The largest chamber of Son Doong is more than five kilometers long, 200 meters high and 150 meters wide.

With such large dimensions, Son Doong overtook Deer Cave in Malaysia as the world's biggest.

Hundreds of thrill seekers, mostly foreigners, are currently in line for an adventure expedition, costing between US$3,000 and $6,000 per person, to explore the awe-inspiring cave.

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