Helicopter crash in Argentina kills 10 including 7 French nationals

[Scruffydog777]

As Ray reported earlier,

"Apparently that among 10 people killed, there were 3 French athletes and I think some parts of a tv crew who were part of a survivalist tv show".

"EDIT: I had read a news article early on that had mentioned the Olympic swimmer Alain Bernard. At that time I thought he was a victim, but I was able to revisit that article and they had only listed him as a cast member in the show. So I hope I didn't upset anyone who may have seen my initial post."

http://rt.com/news/239121-helicopter...entina-french/

"At least 10 people died when two helicopters crashed in a remote area in northwest Argentina during the filming of a survivalist TV show. French Olympic champions were among the cast that perished in the accident, Paris has confirmed.

The helicopters exploded while flying near Villa Castelli in La Rioja province after a possible collision, according to Argentinian Secretary of Security Cesar Angulo. Local officials identified the victims as eight French citizens and two Argentinian pilots.

French President Francois Hollande’s office confirmed in a statement Tuesday that among those killed were Olympic gold medalist swimmer Camille Muffat, 25, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, 28, and sailor Florence Arthaud, 57.




Camille Muffat was an Olympic swimmer and 3 time medalist and Alexis Vastine, a boxer who also won an Olympic medal in Bejing. Florence Arthaud was a champion yachtswoman and I believe the other victims were members of the tv crew and the pilots.

There was a video of the crash. It happened on a nice, bright day. They were flying parallel to each, side by side, probably less than 100 feet apart, when it looked like the pilot of the one on the right, made a very small turn to the left which put them on a collision course.

So it must be a very sad day for all of France!