Action News’ helicopter Chopper 6 crashed into a wooded area of Burlington County, New Jersey, shortly after 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday night, killing the pilot and an on-board photographer from the Action News team.
The exact cause of the crash remains unknown and the names of the victims have not yet been released as families wait to be notified. The ABC station said of the crash victims: “They have a long history with our station and have been working as part of the Action News team for years.”
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The crash site is approximately 40 miles southeast of Philadelphia and is difficult to access due to heavy foliage. The pilot and photographer are believed to have been returning from an assignment on the Jersey Shore.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be investigating the cause of the crash.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are also expected to arrive on Wednesday. A helicopter from another news station was able to take some video footage of the wreckage.
The Chopper 6 is a major part of ABC’s news-gathering operation because it helps journalists reach places that are difficult to travel to and collect footage for weather, traffic and other news stories. As noted by 6abc, the first Chopper 6 helicopter used for news-gathering in Philadelphia launched in February 1980.
Fatalities due to helicopter crashes are rare. Per the FAA, over the past five years, there have been 0.76 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours in the U.S. Nevertheless, the risk of dying in a helicopter flight or non-commercial plane is still much higher than the risk of dying in a crash on a commercial flight, which averaged 0.00 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours in 2021. In 2022, meanwhile, studies showed that private planes are 200 times more deadly.
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