French aviation authorities flew to Argentina last night to investigate a crash involving two helicopters that killed three sports stars and seven other people working on a celebrity survivor television show.
The accident provoked an outpouring of grief in France, with President Hollande leading tributes to the victims, who included Florence Arthaud, 57, a long-distance yachtswoman, Camille Muffat, 25, a swimmer who won three Olympic medals in London in 2012, and Alexis Vastine, 28, a boxer who won an Olympic bronze in 2008.
“The sudden death of our fellow French nationals is a cause of immense sadness,” Mr Hollande said. “They died because, again, they wanted to push the boundaries.”
The accident, which happened in good weather in the rugged, northwestern Rioja province, also killed two Argentinian pilots and five members of Adventure Line Productions (ALP) the French company making the show for TF1, France’s biggest TV channel.
Dropped, which has been produced in Swedish, Danish and Swiss versions, features teams of sports celebrities competing to trek out of remote spots after being landed blindfolded. Production was cancelled after the accident.
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Sylvain Wiltord, the former Arsenal footballer, missed the doomed flights because he had been voted off the show the day before. “I am sad for my friends, I’m trembling, I’m horrified, I don’t have words. I can’t say anything,” he tweeted.
Television footage showed the two Eurocopter aircraft, made by Airbus, taking off together late on Monday afternoon. One climbed towards the other and their rotors clipped, sending both plummeting to the ground, where they burst into flames on impact.
Lucien Roulland, a French helicopter instructor, said that “the second helicopter suddenly veered towards the one in front who was above him. I don’t understand why. Normally the pilot would be watching and staying behind.”
Some aviation experts speculated that gusts of wind caused by the mountainous terrain or the rotor wash of the first aircraft could have upset the trailing helicopter.
The pilots, Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate, were said to be experienced. Mr Castillo’s wife, Cristina, told Argentine television that her husband was a veteran of the Falklands War and had vast experience flying in remote places, including Antarctica.
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Other sports personalities taking part in the show, but who were not involved in the crash, included Jeannie Longo, a cyclist, Anne-Flore Marxer, a snowboarder, Philippe Candeloro, a figure skater, and Alain Bernard, a swimmer.
Candeloro, who was 500m from the crash, said that he had been with the other contestants waiting their turn to be transported in the helicopters.
“They ran towards the accident. The helicopters were in flames. They couldn’t do anything. It was absolute horror,” his manager said.
Candeloro later told Europe 1 radio from the site: “We have been asked not to talk about the disaster because there is an inquiry. We’re waiting for embassy people who will help us handle this tragedy.”
Psychological counsellors had been sent to their hotel, he added.
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The accident has focused attention on the risks of adventure reality shows filmed in exotic locations. The same production company was involved in an accident in 2013, when a contestant in its popular survival show Koh-Lanta died of a heart attack while filming in Cambodia. The doctor overseeing the programme committed suicide shortly afterwards, complaining that he had been wrongly accused of failing to respond quickly enough.
The crash echoes an earlier incident involving French celebrities. Five people, including Daniel Balavoine, a singer, and Thierry Sabine, the organiser of the Paris-Dakar rally, were killed after their helicopter crashed in the north African desert during the race in 1986.
Thierry Braillard, the French sports minister, said: “The whole of French sport is in mourning because we have lost three huge champions.” He paid special tribute to Arthaud, a household name since the 1970s. “We all knew her as the ‘fiancée of the Atlantic’,” he said; a nickname she earned through many pioneering voyages.
Paris Saint-Germain football players will wear black armbands in their Champions League last 16, second leg, clash against Chelsea tonight as a mark of respect.
Paris prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation, a standard legal procedure when French nationals are involved in fatal accidents abroad. Officials from the air investigation office flew overnight to Buenos Aires to join their Argentinian counterparts.
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The Rioja provincial government said that a cast and crew of about 80 people, mostly French nationals, had been in the area filming the series. Shooting began in late February in Ushuaia, Patagonia, at the southern tip of South America. It then moved to La Rioja and its scenic mountain landscapes.