Video of the surrounding area where a 6ABC pilot and photographer were killed in Burlington County on Dec. 19, 2023.
A pilot and a photographer were killed when Action News’ helicopter Chopper 6 crashed Tuesday night in a densely wooded area of Burlington County, New Jersey, the station reported Wednesday morning.
The men died when the iconic helicopter went down after 8 p.m. in Wharton State Forest while returning from an assignment in the Galloway area near the Jersey Shore.
The victims were identified as the pilot, Monroe W. Smith, 67, of Glenside, and photographer Christopher W. Dougherty, 45, of Oreland.
The chopper was reported missing around 10:50 p.m. and a State Park Police officer located the debris shortly after midnight.
A “post impact fire” at the accident scene was extinguished, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
A representative of the Federal Aviation Administration arrived on the scene around 3:15 a.m., but an investigation was delayed until daybreak.
The aircraft was located near Mullica River Road, one of several unpaved roads in the area, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The crash scene is in Washington Township, a lightly populated community deep in the Pinelands.
A Linkedin page describes Smith as a lead pilot for U.S. Helicopters Inc., a North Carolina firm that leased Chopper 6 to Action News.
He and Dougherty were “members of our team that have worked for years with the station,” Action News reporter Katherine Scott said in a broadcast report.
The crash prompted an outpouring of sadness and support from Action News viewers, fellow journalists and elected officials.
According to tracking data from Flight Aware, the American Eurocopter AS-350-A-STAR left Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 7:23 p.m.
The chopper made several loops around the area of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, just northeast of Atlantic City International Airport at 8:03 p.m.
Both the photographer and pilot were on their way back from an assignment at the Jersey Shore, according to ABC News.
The chopper then returned on the same flight path toward Philadelphia before crashing.
The crash is being investigated by the NTSB, with a preliminary report expected within 30 days. A final report, which would likely include a probable cause, will not be released for a year or more.
Conditions around 8 p.m. were tranquil, with no significant cloud cover, said Ray Martin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Westampton.