By DPA,
San Francisco : Nine firefighters were killed when a helicopter carrying them to help control a wildfire in northern California crashed and burned in a remote forest area, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has said.
Four other people aboard the Sikorsky S-61 helicopter suffered severe burns.
The FAA said Wednesday the helicopter crashed under “unknown circumstances” as it was being used to ferry firefighters to tackle the blaze in the Trinity-Shasta National Forest.
The Sikorsky S-61 helicopter is the only firefighting helicopter in the US equipped to simultaneously carry both water and crew. It can carry up to 18 firefighters and drop up to 4,000 litres of water via a suspended bucket.