Friday, July 27, 2007

Director's Alert: 2 News Helicopters Crash Covering Chase

Updated: 8:50 PM

To watch compelling video taken from the KPNX chopper of the accident, CLICK HERE
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It was bound to happen at some point - and today, it did... two news helicopters covering a police chase collided in mid air and crashed in Phoenix, Arizona, this afternoon.

Our Gannett sister station KPNX (which did not have one of the two choppers involved in the accident) reports both the pilots and photographers on each of the two aircraft died when the helicopters collided over Steele Indian School Park. The helicopters, as well as those from other stations, were covering a police chase at the time.

There did not appear to be any casualties on the ground.

Channel 15, the local ABC affiliate, reported that pilot Craig Smith and photographer Rick Krolak were on board their aircraft. Channel 3, the an independent station, reported that pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox were on their aircraft.

For the latest information on this story, we refer you to the KPNX website: CLICK HERE

Courtesy: KPNX and Azcentral.com