This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates as more information becomes available.
A helicopter has crashed on I-10 in St. John the Baptist Parish just outside New Orleans, Louisiana.
Fox 8 reported that state police said the crash occurred on I-10 Eastbound at Bonnet Carre Spillway Bridge around 12:35 p.m. on Tues., Dec. 14.
No injuries or casualties have been reported.
“Troopers are currently responding to a helicopter crash on I-10 eastbound at milepost 212 (Bonne Carré Spillway Bridge),” LA State Police tweeted. “I-10 eastbound at US Hwy 51 is currently closed. I-10 eastbound traffic is being diverted to US Hwy 51 southbound…”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft was a Bell 407 helicopter. Authorities do not know how many people were on board.
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
Fox 8 caught footage of the fiery wreck, which showed a pillar of black smoke rising from the scene.
According to NOLA.com, meteorologists noted the area was covered in low clouds around the time of the helicopter crash, and cloud decks sat at 400 feet at the South Louisiana Executive Regional Airport and 900 feet at the New Orleans International Airport.
“If you’re flying in the clouds, your visibility will be lower,” said Danielle Manning, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Slidell.
Over 19,000 people in nearby Jefferson Parish lost power around the same time as the accident, an Entergy outage map showed, but officials could not confirm if the outage was related to the crash.
Earlier this year, five sailors died in an MH-60S helicopter crash off the coast of California.
The helicopter, an MH-60S Sea Hawk, attached to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) aircraft carrier, was conducting routine flight operations approximately 60 nautical miles (about 69 miles) off the coast of San Diego, when it went down at 4:30 p.m. PDT, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said.
Units involved in the search effort included personnel from Coast Guard District 11, Abraham Lincoln, USS Cincinnati (LCS 20) and helicopter squadrons from the U.S. Pacific Fleet Helicopter Sea Combat Wing and Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing.
The MH-60S Sea Hawk is based on the same design as the U.S. Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk. The Sea Hawk is used in a variety of missions, including combat support, humanitarian disaster relief and search and rescue. A Sea Hawk’s typical crew consists of four crew members, though it has capacity for five additional passengers in its cabin.
