Investigators on Tuesday recovered all 10 bodies from a remote site in Argentina where helicopters serving a reality TV show apparently collided, killing prominent French athletes and leaving their country in mourning.
The helicopters crashed Monday afternoon near Villa Castelli, about 1,170 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires, said La Rioja regional Secretary of Security Cesar Angulo.
Everyone aboard – eight French nationals and two Argentine pilots – was killed.
Among the dead were Olympic champion swimmer Camille Muffat, Olympic boxer and bronze-medallist Alexis Vastine, and pioneering sailor Florence Arthaud. They had been among the contestants in the French version of the reality TV show “Dropped”.
Reporting from Argentina, FRANCE 24’s Declan McGarvey said that although the cause of the crash remained undetermined, there were several competing theories about the fateful accident.
“It’s important to say that this remains speculation, but there is focus on three possible hypotheses: The first is a technical fault with one of the helicopters, the second (a) possible driver error or pilot error, and the third possibility that one of the helicopters was caught in a thermal wind,” he said, adding the natural phenomenon was common in the area where the crash occurred.
Argentine investigators, who will be joined by French counterparts, were seen pulling mobile phones, papers and other charred objects from the wreckage in the isolated scrubland along the Andes mountain range that separates Argentina and Chile.
The crash was believed to be one the deadliest incidents yet related to reality TV shows, a sub-genre of which involves taking celebrities and others to far-flung places to face challenges both physical and mental.
France in mourning
French President François Hollande expressed “immense sadness” about those who died, and the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter, which is to be conducted by a research unit of the French air transport police, a French police official said.
The remaining victims were identified as Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice Guilbert and Edouard Gilles, as well as pilots Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate.
The wife of Castillo, Cristina Alvarez, told Todo Noticias that her husband was a veteran of the Falklands War and had vast experience flying helicopters, including in places like Antarctica and the Falkland Islands.
Her voice cracking, she said her husband was “extremely happy” because he had recently found out he was going to be a grandfather.
Angulo, the security secretary, said one of the helicopters belonged to La Rioja province and the other to neighboring Santiago del Estero province.
“The helicopter from La Rioja was a Eurocopter with a capacity to hold six people. It appears to have brushed against the other helicopter from Santiago del Estero shortly after takeoff,” the statement from the provincial government said.
The crew had arrived Sunday in Villa Castelli, where it had previously filmed a version of “Dropped” for Switzerland and Denmark, said Mayor Andres Navarrete.
Secretary of State for Sport Thierry Braillard said on BFM television that “French sport has lost three stars this morning.”
A boxer, a swimmer and a sailor
Vastine, 28, won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and lost in the quarterfinals four years later in London amid a sporting controversy that led him to break down in tears. He had reportedly vowed to win gold at the 2016 games in Rio.
Muffat, 25, won gold in the 400-metre freestyle in London, plus a silver medal in the 200-metre freestyle and a bronze in the 4 by 200-metre freestyle relay. She had since retired from swimming to focus on her personal life.
But perhaps the best known was Arthaud, 57, a pioneer in sailing. In 1990, she became the first woman to win the famed Route du Rhum race, a solo trans-Atlantic yacht race between Brittany and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
Other “Dropped” contestants in Argentina at the time of the crash included former France and Arsenal striker Sylvain Wiltord, ice skating champion Philippe Candeloro, former Olympic swimming champion Alain Bernard and veteran cyclist Jeannie Longo. They were not involved in the accident.
“I am sad for my friends, I’m trembling, I’m horrified, I don’t have words. I can’t say anything,” Wiltord tweeted.
Candeloro, speaking on RTL radio, said the other contestants were at their hotel Tuesday awaiting arrival of French consular officials.
Production halted
The deaths were likely to place new attention on risks involved with such shows. Two years ago, TF1 – France’s leading private-sector network, which aired the program – cancelled the season of the “Survivor”-like show “Koh Lanta” after a 25-year-old participant died of a heart attack on the first day of filming in Cambodia.
A doctor who worked on the set committed suicide following the death, blaming the media for sullying his name and reputation.
Show producer Adventure Line Productions was behind both programs. In a statement, the company said its staffers were “devastated” and “share the deep pain of the families and loved ones”.
It said it would "of course" immediately stop production and repatriate the teams.
Reality TV shows can appeal to former adrenaline-powered star athletes who remain often famous and beloved long after their careers are over, and are looking for new challenges or fun.
William Forgues, Muffat’s companion, told i-Tele cable news channel that she was instructed not to reveal details about the show filming, but “told everybody that it was great. She was not forced (to do things). She was where she wanted to be.”
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP)
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