Two TV news crew members were killed in a helicopter crash in a wooded part of Burlington County, New Jersey, the news station said.
“A pilot and a photographer from our news team were in the helicopter when it went down while returning from an assignment at the Jersey Shore,” CNN affiliate WPVI said on its website. “Both crew members were killed.”
The names of the pilot and photographer were not immediately publicized pending notification of their relatives. But both “have a long history with our station and have been working as part of the Action News team for years,” WPVI said.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
New Jersey State Park Police received a call about a helicopter that went missing in the area of Wharton State Forest around 10:50 p.m. Tuesday, Chief George Fedorczyk said Wednesday morning.
Shortly after midnight, a state park police officer found the debris field in a remote part of the forest in Washington Township, the chief said.
A representative from the Federal Aviation Administration arrived overnight, Fedorczyk said, and a team from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive Wednesday.
The NTSB will lead the investigation into the crash, Fedorczyk said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.