News Chopper Crashed After Filming Jersey Shore Christmas Lights

GALLOWAY, NJ — The 6ABC news helicopter that crashed in South Jersey on Tuesday night, killing both the pilot and a photographer on board, was heading back to Philadelphia after filming a Christmas lights display in Galloway, officials said.

Both victims were from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The pilot was Monroe Smith, 67, of Glenside, Action News said. The photographer was 45-year-old Oreland resident Christopher Dougherty.

"They were returning back to base when the accident occurred," National Transportation Safety Board Investigator Todd Gunther told reporters Thursday. "It was a clear, cold night."

The flight path shows that the chopper circled around the Smithville section of Galloway a few times, before it headed back and eventually crashed in Wharton State Forest.

During the holiday season, Historic Smithville has a light show displaying 120 Christmas trees made of 50,000 lights floating on the water.

The chopper was leaving at about 8 p.m. It was some time between then and midnight that they ran into trouble. Data shows that the chopper was descending when it hit the trees, crashing deep in the woods.

Wreckage was found at around midnight a few hundred yards from Mullica River Road, near Middle Road and Quaker Bridge Atsion Road, New Jersey State Police said.

Authorities said they had to hack through the woods to reach the wreckage. The debris field is about a hundred yards long, Gunther said.

Authorities are investigating the crash and said they would not speculate on any causes. Read more: Fatal News Chopper Crash: Latest Details, What We Know