Civilian helicopter crashes in New Orleans

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - A civilian helicopter that was not involved in rescue operations crashed in New Orleans today and the two people on board were slightly injured, a state official said.


The helicopter crashed in the area of the Danziger Bridge, said Mark Smith, spokesman for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.


"The helicopter came down hard and rolled over on its side and broke its blades off and broke its tail off," Smith told reporters in Baton Rouge.


"There were two civilians on the helicopter. Both sustained cuts and scrapes," he said.


It was not known why the helicopter was in the area, Smith said.


The US military and Coast Guard have conducted hundreds of helicopter flights in the New Orleans area in recent days searching for Hurricane Katrina survivors and have rescued thousands of storm victims.


Early media reports said the crashed aircraft was a Coast Guard helicopter.


Live television footage from the scene showed the red helicopter lying on the ground near a roadway, with smoke drifting from its cockpit. The ground around the wreck was blackened and churned up by the aircraft's rotor blades.


Smith said he did not know if shots had been fired at the helicopter. Gunfire has been reported on numerous occasions in the New Orleans area in recent days.


"It could have been mechanical failure," he said.


- REUTERS