[gatagato]

Three French sports personalities are among 10 people killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina, the French presidential office confirms.


Eight French nationals and their two Argentine pilots died when two helicopters collided in La Rioja province in the country's north-west.

Yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine all died.

The helicopters were involved in the filming of TV survival show Dropped.

"The sudden death of our fellow French nationals is a cause of immense sadness," said a statement from French President Francois Hollande.

Camille Muffat, Alexis Vastine and Florence Arthaud

Camille Muffat, 25, won three medals, including gold in the 400m freestyle in the 2012 London Olympics. She retired from competitive swimming in 2014.

Alexis Vastine, 28, won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the light-welterweight category. He was narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals of the 2012 Games.

Florence Arthaud, 57, was a hugely accomplished sailor, winning the 1990 Route du Rhum, the prestigious solo Atlantic race. A serious car accident put her in a coma when she was 17.

They crashed near Villa Castelli, about 1,170km (720 miles) from Buenos Aires, according to local officials.

The helicopters were filming Dropped, a popular celebrity show on the channel TF1.

The show flies celebrities into rough terrains by helicopter and films their attempts to find food and shelter.

One of the contestants, former France and Arsenal footballer Sylvain Wiltord, tweeted: "I'm sad for my friends, I'm trembling, I'm horrified, I have no words, I don't want to say anything."

Another cast member, figure skater Philippe Candeloro, was said to be "extremely shocked but unharmed".

The cause of the crash is unclear. Officials have said the weather conditions in the mountainous area where the helicopters went down were good.

"An explosion occurred and it's believed that they must have collided,'' said La Rioja Secretary of Security Cesar Angulo.

"Aeronautical experts will have to determine that," he added.

"We learn with great sadness about the accident during the filming of the Dropped show," said a statement issued by TF1.

"All TF1 teams come together in this terrible time with the pain of the families and relatives of the victims."

TF1 says the show will be postponed and the rest of the crew is returning home.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31809231

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/09/am...copters-crash/

http://news.yahoo.com/2-helicopters-...224126618.html

[Illusion]

The helicopters were filming Dropped, a popular celebrity show on the channel TF1.

Tragic

[kellyhound]

tragic loss.

vid right after the accident

[gatagato]

Thanks for the contributions, KH

[kellyhound]

Contribution to the thread by kellyhound:

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[Schmuck]

There were eight french sports personalites, and two pilotes from Argentina who died.

[spudigitti]

Sad

[gatagato]

Originally Posted by Schmuck ↗

There were eight french sports personalites, and two pilotes from Argentina who died.

No.

Laurent Sbasnik
Lucie Mei-Dalby
Volodia Guinard
Brice Guilbert
Edouard Gilles

Were members of the crew of Adventure Line Productions (ALP), a French television production company.

Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate were the Argentinian pilots.

10 -
5 -
2
_______
= 3



http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/vide...0400_3222.html

[kellyhound]

and the actual accident vid.
contributing vids don't show up so i post it here

[b0g]

nice find
the heli left is a bit below the right one in a dead corner but not giving priority to the right heli
blindness or health or concentration probs
100 -200 meters before those pilots must have been able to see each other

Alexis V. was 5 times military world Champ, and he lost his sis of 21 yr some months ago due to car crash.