Five people died Monday when a sightseeing helicopter crashed near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee, officials said.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson says the Bell 206 sightseeing helicopter crash was reported at 3:30 p.m. Monday near Sevierville. Spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an email that the helicopter was destroyed by fire.
Local news station WBIR confirmed that Smoky Mountain Helicopters owned the chopper. The company's website states that the company has been offering customers tours of the National Park and other scenic sites since 1964.
"There was not much left of the helicopter," Pigeon Forge Police Chief Jack Baldwin told WBIR. "There's just a small piece of the tailwing and that's about what's left of the helicopter." He told the news station that it was the worst wreck he had ever seen.
Pigeon Forge Fire Department also were at the scene battling flames that broke out and spread up the nearby mountain, according to Local 8. Plumes of acrid smoke came barreling out of tree tops.
Tennessee Emergency Management Association spokesman Dean Flener confirmed late Monday afternoon that five people had died.
Additional reporting by Gillian Edevane