Tuesday, March 10, 2015

3 FRENCH STAR ATHLETES DIE IN HELICOPTER CRASH IN ARGENTINA THAT KILLS 10 DURING THE FILMING OF A FRENCH REALITY SHOW







MARCH 10, 2015

NORTHWESTERN ARGENTINA

A midair collision involving two helicopters in northwestern Argentina on Monday night killed at least 10 people, three of whom were prominent French sports stars. French media immediately hailed them as “three of France’s finest athletes.”

In all, eight of the dead were French nationals, in addition to two Argentine pilots. They were killed while flying to a far-flung gorge in the province of La Rioja while filming the reality TV show, “Dropped,” which chronicles celebrities foraging for food and shelter in barren environments.

Two helicopters carrying French sports stars filming a popular European reality show crashed in a remote part of Argentina on Monday, killing 10 people, including two Olympic medal winners. (AP) 

This season’s show featured three famous French athletes: Camille Muffat, 25, who won three medals in swimming at the 2012 London Olympics; Alexis Vastine, 28, who won the bronze in boxing in Beijing in 2008; and renowned sailor Florence Arhaud, 57, who won both the solo Atlantic Race as well as the Route du Rhum.

“Apparently, the two helicopters collided as they were filming,” provincial spokesman Horacio Alarcon told France 24. “There are no survivors.” He added in an interview with the Associated Press: “An explosion occurred and it’s believed that they collided.” The helicopters were said to be “totally burned.”

It’s remains unclear what caused the crash. Pictures showed that conditions appeared fairly calm at the time of the crash, which occurred more than 700 miles north of Buenos Aires near the community of Villa Castelli. “The helicopter from La Rioja was a Eurocopter with a capacity to hold six people,” a statement released by the local provincial office said. “It appears to have brushed against the other helicopter from Santiago del Estero shortly after takeoff.”

A production company called Adventure Line Productions (ADL) confirmed the deaths. “All the ADL teams are devastated and share the deep pain of the families and loved ones they are in contact with,” the company said in a statement. “We are in contact with the production teams on site [and] with the French Argentine authorities. We will give more information as soon as possible.”

It was a violent, tumultuous end for a group of athletes who soared to the peak of French sports. Arthaud had become a symbol of feminism as one of the first women to gain prominence in the sport of sailing, long the domain of men. “I’ve lived my life in the fast lane,” France 24 quoted her saying. She had survived scores of scrapes with death, one when she was only 17. A car accident threw her into a two-month coma.

The two helicopters moments before the accident. (AFP/Getty Images)
She expressed nonchalance when discussing her brushes with danger. “It just wasn’t my day,” she said after she was knocked off her boat at nighttime off the coast of Corsica and swam for two hours before getting rescued by a helicopter. “But miracles sometimes happen.”

Miracles did happen for 25-year-old Camille Muffat, a gifted swimmer who crawled her way to three Olympic medals: a gold, a silver and a bronze. “Camille was quite a shy and reserved person,” Amaury Leveaux, another French gold medalist, told the Associated Press. “She was discreet. But when it was time for a bit of a laugh she was always there. French sport has lost a great champion.”

The athletic accolades of Alexi Vastine were also what defined him. In the 2008 Olympics, the boxer took third in the light welterweight category. “This is politics, not sport,” he said of a hard-fought loss in London in 2012.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing, local authorities said.

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Two helicopters collided during the filming of a French reality TV show Monday, killing 10 people, including two Olympic medalists and an accomplished sailor. News of the crash in Argentina has left France in mourning, Prime Minister Manuel Valls says.

In addition to the athletes and five other French citizens, two Argentine pilots died in the accident.

The crash occurred shortly after the two helicopters took off in a mountainous area in La Rioja province. One of the helicopter's tail section reportedly touched the other craft. Investigators do not yet know the cause of the crash; there were no survivors.

Swimmer Camille Muffat, 25, boxer Alexis Vastine, 28, and sailor Florence Arthaud, 57, had widely different backgrounds and personalities. Vastine was famously passionate, while Muffat was a "shy and unassuming champion," Agence France-Presse says. And Arthaud had the skill and fortitude to endure long races over the ocean.

From Paris, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports:

"The show, called Dropped, was to air this season on French television. It consisted of dropping teams of world-class athletes into remote locations, in a contest to see who could make it back to civilization first.

"The accident happened when two helicopters collided. Ten people were killed — including the athletes and production crew and two Argentinian pilots.

"The athletes were beloved sports stars in France: a sailor who became the first woman to win a solitary sailing race across the North Atlantic; an Olympic boxer who won bronze in the light welterweight category in 2008; and a swimmer who earned her glory at the London Olympic games in 2012, winning a gold, silver and bronze in freestyle."

President Francois Hollande said the deaths had brought on "an immense sadness," AFP reports. The agency adds that Prime Minister Manuel Valls said, "The whole of France is in mourning this morning."

This isn't the first time the company behind Dropped has seen a death during one of its shows. Two years ago, a contestant in another endurance show died of a heart attack — an event that came just before the physician who had been looking after the contestants committed suicide, Reuters notes.