Two News Helicopters Collide
A police chase through the streets of downtown Phoenix turned into a midair tragedy Friday afternoon when two television news helicopters covering the action collided and crashed to the ground in smoke and flame, killing all four people on board.
KTVK-TV said photojournalist Jim Cox and pilot Scott Bowerback were killed. KNXV-TV identified its crew as photographer Rick Krolak and pilot Craig Smith.
The helicopters collided as the stations were covering the police pursuit of a stolen white truck towing a trailer. Assistant Chief Mark Angle of the Phoenix Fire Department said wreckage from both helicopters then landed in a downtown park.
Aerial footage from another station covering the chase, KPNX-TV, showed large plumes of black smoke and flames coming from the wreckage.
“I was driving and heard a bang,” one unnamed witness told KPHO.
“I was standing out on Central Avenue and I was looking over to the park and saw the helicopters get close,” Jerry Fender told KPHO. “The blue one split and went down. The red or orange one went right after it.”
“Looked something like 9/11 with debris exploding everywhere,” said witness Brian Kenneth, the station reported.
Rick Gotchie, a Phoenix air-conditioning contractor working at a nearby building, was watching the helicopters circling the scene and noticed they were getting closer to each other, The Associated Press reported.
Source: CNN.
0