News choppers crash in Arizona

Two news helicopters covering a police chase on live television in America have collided and crashed.All four people on board died when the helicopters plunged into a park in Phoenix, Arizona. No one on the ground was hurt.TV viewers did not witness the accident because cameras aboard both aircraft were pointed at the ground but they saw video from one of the helicopters break up and begin to spin before the station abruptly switched to the studio.Television station KNXV reported that it operated one of the helicopters and the other was from KTVK. A pilot and photographer were in each chopper.KNXV reporter Craig Smith, who was among the dead, was reporting live as police chased a man driving a lorry erratically, hitting several cars and driving on the pavement at times.Police had blown the tyres, but the man parked and carjacked another vehicle nearby. Just before the picture broke up, Smith said, "Oh geez!"The station then switched to the studio and briefly showed regular programming, a soap opera, before announcing that the helicopter had crashed.The man fleeing from police was later taken into custody.Police Chief Jack Harris suggested he could be charged in connection with the collision.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | July 28, 2007

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