Dec. 20 (UPI) — A pilot and news photographer working for a Philadelphia news station died after their helicopter crashed in New Jersey, the station said.
Philadelphia‘s WPVI said the crew members died after the chopper crashed in Washington Township, N.J., at 8 p.m. EST Tuesday.
“We know that a pilot and a photographer from our news team went down with Chopper 6 while returning from an assignment at the Jersey Shore,” the station said.
The television station has not released the names of the victims of their Action News team because their families have not been fully contacted.
Tracking data from FlightAware said the helicopter, an American Eurocopter AS-350-A-STAR, left the Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 7:23 p.m., Eastern time, to New Jersey, and made several loops around the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Atlantic County near Galloway and the Atlantic City International Airport, before returning at 8:03 p.m.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation Wednesday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are both expected to start probes.
Officials said the helicopter was last known to be flying over Wharton State Forest when it crashed in a remote section of the woods.
