Probe: Doomed Philadelphia News Helicopter Hit Trees Fast, Broke Up, Then Burned, Killing 2 on Board

Probe: Doomed Philadelphia News Helicopter Hit Trees Fast, Broke Up, Then Burned, Killing 2 on Board
The 6ABC helicopter known as Chopper 6 flies over Philadelphia's Penn Landing on Sept. 7, 2023. Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP
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SHAMONG, N.J.—A Philadelphia television news helicopter returning from an assignment photographing Christmas lights earlier this week plunged into a southern New Jersey forest “at very high speed,” broke apart, then caught fire after it crashed, killing both occupants, a federal crash investigator said Friday.

Todd Gunther, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters near the crash site that WPVI’s Chopper 6 was returning to its base at Northeast Philadelphia Airport Tuesday night when something caused it to crash into Wharton State Forest in Washington Township.