Six employees of aircraft maker Eurocopter were killed when their helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of south-east France on Wednesday during a test flight, police and company officials said. The crash occurred around 1:30 pm (1130 GMT) in a steep section of the Verdon Gorge in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region near the border with Italy, according to local police.
Police said a preliminary investigation suggested the helicopter may have hit an electric cable. Eurocopter, a unit of European aerospace group EADS, said in a statement that the downed aircraft was a Cougar AS532 AL helicopter and that six people were on board.