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.
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.
//---------------------------------------//
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.