tragedy in western maryland when a helicopter crash claims four lives. good morning. welcome to fox 5 midday news. i m holly morris i m allison seymour. the helicopter crashed near the washington-frederick county line. three employees and a passenger all died. sherry ly is at the airport where she joins us now. sherry. reporter: we are currently awaiting a press conference from the ntsb which the lead in this investigation into what caused thisd itly this deadly helicopter crash. we have learned about some people that were on board. this is a helicopter instruction company in maryland and three employees and a passenger died when their chopper crashed on i-70 late last night near smithsberg. the instrumentor the instructor said, quote, we have suffered a huge loss. our thoughts and prayers are with their families. they are not saying where the helicopters with headed. it crashed around 10:30 last night on i-70, on the east side of south mountain. all four people on bo
workers to restring the wires, which the chopper had hit. witnesses reported that the aircraft is flying low, that they saw sparks flying before the aircraft hit the ground and then there was a post-crash fire that substantially damaged the aircraft, as i said, consumed the cockpit. reporter: the chopper s pilot had spent the afternoon and evening at the airport in hagerstown giving helicopter rides as a fundraiser for a youth charity responderred by his applauser, advanced helicopter concepts. heavy storms delayed the pilot s departure for two hours until he decided to take off around 10:15 p.m. there was some limited visibility due to the moisture and fog in the area, especially around the upper levels of south mountain in the area of the crash site. reporter: ntsb investigators say the pilot was experienced, and fully certified on helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and certified as an instructor. ntsb investigators say they n t know if the chopper hit the power lines
yesterday. those are all areas we ll be watching as these storms continue to move right on down the corridor. we ll continue to keep you posted. and again, severe thunderstorm warnings in effect for washington and frederick county. we ll continue to keep you posted. the other big story tonight, tragedy in western maryland. four people were killed when a helicopter crashed near a highway and exploded into flames. tonight, the focus is on finding a cause. eyewitness news has been following this story since it first broke. alex demetrick is live with the latest. reporter: well, denise, this helicopter was flying under visual flight rules, not instruments. and not being able to see what was up ahead may have caused this crash. reporter: the helicopter went down in the median of the eastbound lanes of i-70, about 10:30 last night, along a stretch of south mountain, near smith burg. all four people were killed either in the crash or the fire that followed. there had been stor
. save the life of a loved one. where you can get free miami fwram monday on fox 45 miami fwram monday on fox 45 morning he loved aviation. helicopter crashes on highway. when investigators are saying and how victim families are coping. dire warning about swine flu. find out how bad some say it can get. drying up a bit after some heavy rain.i ll tell you if clear skies will continue through the weekend. coming up in my sky watch forecast. and world class soccer slides into baltimore. the big boost it is expected to bring to local businesses. . jeff is off tonight. helicopter crashes on interstate 70 killing off four people on board jeans is. q and tonight federal investigators are probing what went wrong. chopper crashed on eastbound lanes of i 70 about 10 miles east of hagerstown. jeff is here now with the latest. jeff snishtion well investigators say the helicopter took off from the hagerstown airport at 10:15 last night en route to frederick but 15 minutes a
hi, everybody. i m sally thorner. i m kai jackson. here s what people are talking about. new developments today in the controversy of an arrest of a harvard professor. massachusetts police say they are demanding an apology from president obama about the arrest of mr. gates. the law enforcement is making a show of force behind the white police officer who arrested a black scholar. we completely support sergeant crowley and the fine men and women in the cambridge police department. reporter: officers arrested professor henry gates at his home last week, after responding to a call last week. president obama amped up the debate, when he called the police department s actions stupid. supporters of sergeant james crowley want an apology. i think the president should make an apology to all law enforcement personnel who took offense to this. to the extent that my words added to more media frenzy, i think that was unfortunate. what i would like to do is make sure every