Helicopter Crash In Southeastern France Kills 6

[News_Editor]

Helicopter crash in southeastern France kills 6 < br />

2012-07-27 00:56:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS, FRANCE (BNO NEWS) -- Six employees of aircraft manufacturer Eurocopter were killed Wednesday afternoon when their helicopter crashed during a test flight in southeastern France, police and company officials said on Thursday. There were no survivors.

The twin-engine Eurocopter AS532 Cougar helicopter crashed at around 1:30 p.m. local time in a steep section of the Verdon Gorge, one of Europe's best known river gorges which is located in France's mountainous Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region near the border with Italy. Witnesses said the helicopter possibly hit an electricity cable before it went down.

Officials said the aircraft had taken off from Marseille and was carrying six Eurocopter employees for a final verification flight prior to delivery to the Albanian Army. The company confirmed there were no survivors and said the victims were all flight engineers, although their identities were not released.

"The entire Eurocopter Group is deeply saddened by this tragedy, and is currently devoting all of its efforts to identifying the circumstances and exact cause of this accident in collaboration with the authorities in charge of the investigation," a company spokesperson said in a brief statement.

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