A helicopter crash in Southern California on Sunday killed three men who were working on the production of a coming reality show for the Discovery Channel.

Production of the untitled series was shut down after the crash. The incident could draw new scrutiny of the production practices of reality TV shows.

“A production company was shooting a show for Discovery Channel when this tragic accident occurred,” a spokeswoman for the channel said. “We are all cooperating fully with authorities. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families.”

The crash occurred around 3:30 a.m. Pacific time at Polsa Rosa Movie Ranch, about 30 miles north of Los Angeles. The ranch is frequently used by film and television crews.

“The helicopter, a Bell 206B Jet Ranger, crashed under unknown circumstances,” said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency is helping the National Transportation Safety Board in an investigation of the crash.

A permit for filming at the ranch, provided by FilmL.A., described the Discovery Channel series as an “untitled military project.” The permit allowed filming from 5 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday. Attached to the permit was a filming plan submitted by the helicopter pilot that proposed filming from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

The permit was provided to Bongo Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the production company behind the show, Eyeworks USA.

“We can confirm that a helicopter crash occurred this morning while shooting a new series for a cable network, which resulted tragically in three fatalities,” an Eyeworks spokeswoman said. “We are cooperating fully with the authorities. We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of those involved.”

A spokeswoman for Eyeworks identified the three victims as David Gibbs, 59; Darren Rydstrom, 45, and Michael Donatelli, 45. Mr. Gibbs was the helicoper pilot, Mr. Rydstrom a crew member and Mr. Donatelli a cast member.

Eyeworks, formerly known as 3 Ball Productions, has produced a wide range of reality shows. Its credits include “Flying Wild Alaska,” a documentary series on Discovery; “Bar Rescue,” on Spike; and “Splash,” a diving competition that is scheduled to have its debut on ABC next month.

Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/helicopter-crash-kills-3-tv-crew-members/?partner=rss&emc=rss