Five other French nationals also killed while filming TV show 'Dropped'

This is the dramatic moment two helicopters crash midair in Argentina, killing 10 people including three French sports stars taking part in a reality TV show.

The video, shown on Argentinian TV this morning, reveals how one of the aircraft smashes into the other from below while flying over trees in a remote town.

Seconds later, both craft plunge to the ground and explode in a ball of flames.

Champion sailor Florence Arthaud, Olympic gold medal swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastin were all killed, along with two Argentine pilots and five other French nationals.

Prosecutors in Paris today opened a manslaughter inquiry as Argentinian police removed the bodies from the wreckage of the helicopters.

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Midair horror: Video footage has emerged showing the moment two helicopters smash into each other over Argentina, killing 10 people including three French sports stars during filming for a reality TV show

Moments from death: Three French sports stars - from left, champion sailor Florence Arthaud, Olympic gold medal swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine - are pictured shortly before boarding a helicopter which crashed in Argentina while they were filming a reality TV show

Doomed: Olympians Camille Muffat, centre, Florence Arthaud, second right and Alexis Vastine far right, are pictured on their way to film French survival TV show 'Dropped'

Former Arsenal striker Sylvain Wiltord (green jacket right) pictured with Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine (far left), Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat (third left white jacket) and yachtswoman Florence Arthaud (fourth left) with other members of the cast of French reality TV show Dropped

Pilot Roberto Abate (left), who died in the crash, pictured in front of a helicopter similar to ones that collided

Former military pilot Juan Carlos Castillo was the other pilot killed in the crash on Monday

Air accident investigators have yet to reveal the cause of the crash, which happened around 5pm local time yesterday.

The celebrities were taking part in a survival TV series called Dropped for French TV when the crash happened in a rugged mountain range in La Rioja province.

A cattle farmer has told how he rushed to one of the helicopters to try to rescue survivors, but was beaten back by the heat and smoke.

David Ocampo said: 'One of the helicopters sounded as if it was firing off shots or experiencing small explosions that were completely out of place.

'There were about five metres between the two of them, but the one in front seemed to stop and that caught my attention.

'The other one smashed into it from behind with its propellor after trying to swerve to avoid it and fell to the ground and exploded. The earth shook when they fell.

'I rushed towards it to see if there were any survivors but it was just a ball of flame.

'I couldn't see anything really, just smoke and the tail of one of the two helicopters between the bushes.'

Shock: Camille Muffat's father Guy, boyfriend William Forgues, trainer Fabrice Pellerin and Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, stand during the tribute to the Olympic gold medalist

Medallist: A giant poster was set up in Nice to pay tribute to Muffat, who was 24-years-old

Tributes: People pay homage to Muffat in Nice, south-eastern France, on Tuesday evening

Grief: Adriani Vastine (centre) and Alain Vastine (right), the brother and father of Alexis Vastine, weep as they take gather to pay tribute to the Olympic boxer in Pont-Audemer, northwestern France

People take part in a gathering in tribute to Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine in Pont-Audemer, north west France

CRASH WAS CAUSED BY A BLIND SPOT, CLAIMS EX-CHOPPER PILOT A former helicopter pilot who watched the crash footage believes the accident happened because of a 'blind spot' which prevented one pilot seeing the other aircraft. Richard Beale spent seven years piloting helicopters for the province of La Rioja where the two choppers collided. He said: 'A helicopter is much safer than a plane, but it has to meet certain conditions like being well maintained. 'I know the helicopter that belongs to the province is well looked after. 'I also know helicopters, like planes, have blind spots. 'The one underneath obviously didn't see the one above because he had that blind spot which is the roof and the one above couldn't see him because he can't see behind him. 'I don't believe either of the two pilots saw each other. I can't see that either of the two pilots crashed because they lost control of their helicopters.' Advertisement

He said he was warned by a police officer to leave the scene over fears the aircraft could explode.

'I felt terrible I couldn't help to rescue anyone but the flames prevented me from getting near the helicopters.'

Earlier, it emerged today that former Arsenal footballer Sylvain Wiltord missed the doomed flights because he had been voted off the show the day before.

A statement from local government officials identified the remaining victims as Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice Guilbert and Edouard Gilles, as well as Argentine pilots Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate.

The accident happened at around 5pm on Monday shortly after the two aircraft took off in a mountainous region of La Rioja, in Argentina's north west.

Disel Cuneo, government spokesman for the province, said: 'There are several French nationals among the victims. So far we only know of two Argentine victims.'

There were unconfirmed reports that one of the victims died after jumping out of one of the helicopters seconds before they crashed.

Another provincial spokesman, Horacio Alarcon, said that the two helicopters appeared to have collided during filming.

'There are no survivors,' he added.

Minutes from disaster: The two helicopters which collided mid-air are seen taking off near Villa Castelli in the Argentine province of La Rioja

Devastating: The charred wreckage of one of the helicopters, which came down yesterday afternoon

Information: The investigators spent the day searching the remains of the helicopters for clues

Crash investigators retrieve a boot the wreckage of the two helicopters which collided midair in Argentina

Piecing together the evidence: Prosecutors in Paris have opened a manslaughter inquiry as Argentinian police removed the bodies and belongings from the wreckage of the helicopters

Investigators have yet to reveal the cause of the crash, which happened around 5pm local time on Monday

Inferno: Wreckage from one of the helicopters continues to burn long after the crash

Camille Muffat was a former world record holder for the 400m women's freestyle from 2012 until 2013.

She won gold during the 400m freestyle at London 2012, earned silver in the women's 200m freestyle and a bronze as a member of the women's 4×200m freestyle relay.

She was the third Frenchwoman in history to earn three medals in a summer or winter Olympic Games and was named the 2012 French Sportswoman of the Year.

She shocked the sporting world in June by announcing her sudden retirement at the age of 24, exhausted by the long hours of training in the pool.

Alexis Vastine won bronze for boxing in the Light Welterweight category at the Beijing Olympics, and competed at London 2012, but was knocked out in the quarter finals.

Florence Arthaud was regarded as one of the world's best sailors, and won the Route du Rhum, a transatlantic single-handed yacht race that takes place every four years.

Ten people, including eight cast members of a French reality TV show and two Argentine pilots, have died after their helicopters collided over a mountain range in La Rioja province yesterday afternoon

Horror: 'I felt terrible I couldn't help to rescue anyone but the flames prevented me from getting near the helicopters,' cattle farmer David Ocampo said

Smoke: The burning wreckage sent plumes of smoke into the air long after the crash

She took first place in 1990 with her boat Pierre 1er.

Sylvain Wiltord, a 40-year-old former Arsenal footballer who won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups, was also in the show.

But was not on board either of the helicopters because he had been eliminated from the show just the day before, French media reported.

Camille Muffat, an Olympic swimmer who won gold in the freestyle at London 2012 and is a former world record holder died in the helicopter crash

Wiltord tweeted early this morning: 'I am sad for my friends, I'm trembling, I'm horrified, I have no words, I don't want to say anything'.

French President Francois Hollande in a statement published on the website of the French daily Liberation: 'The brutal demise of our compatriots is an immense sadness.'

'The whole of French sport is in mourning because we have lost three huge champions,' French Sports Minister Thierry Braillard told RTL radio.

'Florence Arthaud - we all knew her as the 'Fiancee of the Atlantic',' he added, using Arthaud's nickname.

Alain Bernard, 31, and another swimmer who won gold at the London Olympics is also among the survivors.

One of the two Argentinian pilots who died had just learned he was going to become a grandfather, his wife revealed today.

Cristina Alvarez spoke with Falklands War veteran husband Juan Carlos Castillo shortly before the crash to tell him his daughter was expecting a boy.

She said of the pilot, who was in charge of the chopper owned by the La Rioja regional government: 'I spoke with him around midday.

'I wanted to tell him our daughter was expecting was a boy. He was over the moon and was making plans to come back home so we could all celebrate.'

Mr Castillo also helped an ex-president escape from his office as a baying mob protested outside.

Alexis Vastine, a boxer who won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (left) and Florence Arthaud, who won the transatlantic sailing race Route du Rhum in 1990, were also reported to have been killed

Lucky escape: Former Arsenal and France footballer Sylvain Wiltord (pictured, left, with fellow contestant, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine) missed the doomed flights because he had been eliminated just the day before

A spokesman for the Ministry of Security in Mendoza, where Castillo was from, said he had piloted the helicopter that helped Fernando de la Rua to safety in December 2001 as thousands of protesters beseiged the Pink House in Buenos Aires.

The group were taking part in a French version of the Swedish survival show Dropped in which athletic celebrities are abandoned in harsh environments and left to survive.

On the website of Zodiak Media, who produce the show, it says: 'With no food, no map, and no help, [contestants] must make their way through unforgiving landscapes, in a race to find civilisation, and a helicopter to take them to the next location.

'A daily radio message from the show's host is their only indication as to how far they've gone. Each week, the losing team faces an elimination challenge, until only four contestants remain.'

The crash happened close to the village of Villa Castelli in the Andes mountain region of La Rioja province

Mr Alarcon said the weather conditions were good and the cause of the crash was unknown.

Susana Rojas, who works for local radio station La Troya, added: 'There was a terrible explosion and both helicopters were engulfed in flames.'

Images on Argentine television showed the wreckage of the two helicopters lying in flames on the barren scrubland.

Investigating magistrate Virginaia Illanes Bordon ordered the crash site to be cordoned off at nightfall yesterday as they waited for air accident investigators to arrive.

The bodies of the victims remained untouched overnight.

The helicopters were flying over Quebrada El Yeso and Quebrada Condado, two locations in the mountain region of La Rioja, located 700 miles north of the capital Buenos Aires.