A helicopter from a television channel which was covering a traffic accident crashed on Tuesday September 15 in a neighborhood of Los Angeles, in the west of the United States, killing at least three people, according to firefighters.
The aircraft was flying over the Chatsworth neighborhood, northwest of the city center, to film the site of a collision between an SUV and a bus that left three people dead and many injured.
Reporters at the scene said they saw the helicopter crash about a block from the bus crash site, sending up thick plumes of smoke. Aerial images broadcast by the media subsequently showed the wreckage of the aircraft, the tail and rotor deformed in the flames.
According to firefighters, three people died, one of whom appeared to have been killed on the ground, and one was injured. The helicopters of American television channels generally carry two people: the pilot and a journalist reporting images.
It was not immediately clear which channel the helicopter belonged to, but local station NBC4 said it had lost contact with its crew.
The media in Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States, is fiercely competitive. Many use helicopters, in already crowded skies, to cover fires, car chases and other news items.
With AFP
