ABC News helicopter crashes in New Jersey woods, killing photographer and pilot
A news helicopter operated by WPVI, an ABC-affiliated TV station in Philadelphia, crashed in the woods of southern New Jersey, killing both people onboard, the station announced Wednesday.
Monroe Smith, the 67-year-old pilot, and Christopher Dougherty, a 45-year-old photographer, were on Chopper 6 when it went down in Washington Township on Tuesday around 8 p.m. They had just completed an assignment on the Jersey Shore and were on their way back to Philadelphia at the time.
Despite the remote terrain, which is densely packed with trees, New Jersey state troopers were able to successfully locate the wreckage shortly after midnight. Authorities said the chopper was last recorded airborne over Wharton State Forest. The debris field was found a few hundred yards from Mullica River Road, in the area of Middle Road and Quaker Bridge Atsion Road.
What exactly caused the chopper to go down remained unclear as of Wednesday evening. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an investigation, and will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the helicopter on Thursday morning.
“Due to the remote location of the scene and the limited visibility, it was determined … the investigation would be suspended until sometime after daybreak,” New Jersey State Park Police Chief George Fedorczyk said Wednesday.
In speaking with colleagues at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, where the helicopter was based, WPVI reporter Maggie Kent said Dougherty and Smith were “described as the best guys that you would want to know, on the job for decades.”
“Our hearts are just broken for these men. They’re broken for their families,” reporter Katherine Scott said Wednesday during a live report on WPVI’s Action News. “We just can’t believe this has happened.”
The helicopter involved, a 2013 American Eurocopter AS-350A-STAR, is leased by WPVI from U.S. Helicopters Inc., which is based in North Carolina. The station says it plays “an integral role in our news-gathering operation, accessing areas that are difficult to reach by ground, giving us everything from weather and beauty shots, traffic backups, and important information about news of the day.”
The station first started using a helicopter back in 1980. It was also the first news helicopter used in Philadelphia.
