Reality TV chopper crash - 3 dead

Los Angeles - Three people were killed in a helicopter crash in a rural area of northern Los Angeles County while filming for a new reality TV show for the Discovery Channel.

The copter crashed at about 03:40 local time on Sunday at the popular filming location of Polsa Rosa Ranch in the city of Acton, Los Angeles County Fire dispatcher Robert Diaz said.

All three people aboard died, Diaz said.

Coroner's spokesperson Ed Winter identified the victims on Monday as David Gene Gibbs, 59; Darren Arthur Rydstrom, 46, and Michael William Donatelli, 45.

The show, listed on a filming permit as an untitled military-theme TV programme, had not yet been aired or announced by Discovery, channel spokesperson Laurie Goldberg said.

"A production company was shooting a show for Discovery Channel when this tragic accident occurred," the station said in a statement. "We are all co-operating fully with authorities. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families."

The show's production company, Eyeworks USA, best known for creating NBC's The Biggest Loser, also issued a statement expressing sympathies to the victims' families and saying they were co-operating with authorities.

The company had been approved to use a helicopter for a reality TV show shooting at the ranch from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning, said Philip Sokoloski, a spokesperson for FilmLA, which processes filming permits for location shootings in the Los Angeles region.

Records also showed that Crossbow Helicopters received approval to participate in filming from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We wouldn't have referenced helicopter activity if we didn't already have pre-approval from the FAA," Sokoloski said.

The cause and other circumstances surrounding the crash were still unknown, Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Allen Kenitzer said.

Television footage showed mangled wreckage in a rugged canyon.

According to its website, Polsa Rosa is a "movie ranch" where film crews can utilize a variety of terrains as well as two airstrips. The ranch, according to the Internet Movie Database, was used in Windtalkers and last year's remake of Red Dawn.

It was the site of another entertainment industry death in September, when a 48-year-old crew member died of an apparent heart attack while underwater in scuba gear on the set of the upcoming Johnny Depp film The Lone Ranger.

Sunday's wreck was also just 40km from a similar rural spot in Santa Clarita where actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed in another helicopter crash while filming the Twilight Zone movie in 1982.

That crash brought changes in production restrictions and led to producer John Landis and four others being charged with involuntary manslaughter. All were acquitted.