Fatal News Chopper Crash: Latest Details, What We Know

NEW JERSEY — A 6ABC news helicopter crashed in South Jersey on Tuesday night, killing both the pilot and a photographer on board.

An investigation is underway and it remains unclear what exactly caused the crash. Here's what is known about the incident as of Tuesday morning.

The victims

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.

The crash

The pair left from Northeast Philadelphia Airport earlier Tuesday to report on Christmas lights at the Jersey Shore, investigators said.

They departed to return home from their assignment at about 8 p.m.

The timeline is still murky, but at some point between then and midnight, they ran into trouble.

Conditions were clear and cold, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Todd Gunther said during a Wednesday press conference. And the chopper was on course during the entirety of its flight.

The chopper went down in a densely wooded area in an area that is technically considered Washington Township, deep in Wharton State Forest and roughly halfway between the beach and the city.

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.

The investigation

The Federal Aviation Administration did a preliminary walk-through of the scene early Wednesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to lead the investigation. Gunther said crews will examine the "man, machine, and environmental interface."

The investigation will look to ensure that nothing fell off the helicopter, and the tail rotor, transmission, drive shafts, and flight control systems of the chopper will all be examined for issues.

Other factors investigators will look into include the physiology of the pilot, any weather conditions that could have potentially impacted the flight, the maintenance history of the chopper, and records involving the chopper's flights that day. Officials said it had flown twice prior to crashing: once from Philly to the Jersey Shore, and once before that.

A total of eight people have been assigned full time to the investigation, including Gunther, an engine specialist, and an air frame specialist. Local, state, county, and federal authorities are also on the scene.

Gunther believes his team will be on site for about three days, and that a preliminary report will be released within 10 to 15 days after they leave.

"That report will have the facts, conditions, and circumstances as we know it," Gunther said. "As we go through this process, we can release information at this time."

The NTSB protocol is to release the preliminary report that provides a summation of what is known thus far, a "factual report" 18 months later, and 60 days after that, a federal review board will release a statement of official probable cause.