Two people were injured when a helicopter used by the TVA network in Montreal crashed early Wednesday morning near the Bonaventure Expressway in the south end of the city.
The Robinson R-44 Newscopter went down around 7:30 a.m. near Mel's, a film production facility in an industrial area between the Champlain and Victoria bridges.
Reports say the pilot may have been attempting an emergency landing on a helipad at the facility.
The pilot, identified as Antoine Leger, was able to exit the helicopter on his own and was transported to Montreal General Hospital.
The passenger, veteran traffic reporter Rejean Leveille, was trapped in the helicopter for about an hour, according to CTV Montreal's Herb Luft.
"They brought in heaters to make sure he was warm," Luft told CTV News Channel on Wednesday morning. "He was conscious the entire time but complaining of lower-body pain. They managed to get him out eventually and he's been taken to hospital."
Benoit Garneau, an ambulance service spokesperson, said Leveille's "legs were crushed, so firemen had to be very delicate (when taking) him out."
A doctor at Montreal General said both men suffered "orthopedic injuries" and are in stable condition.
Dr. Jean-Marc Troquet, chief of emergency medicine at Montreal General, told reporters outside the hospital that both men may require surgery, but their lives are not in danger.
Both will remain in hospital for at least a couple of days, he said.
The helicopter was severely damaged by the landing. Television footage showed the crumpled wreckage by the road side, with its rotor blade across the highway.
According to Luft, the helicopter was used for live daily traffic and news reports.
"(The helicopter) was put into service in 2005, completely refurbished last summer, so there's really no particular reason at this point for this crash," Luft said.
At noon Wednesday, Luft reported that witnesses saw the chopper "flying awkwardly" near the Mercier Bridge.
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board and Montreal police spent much of Wednesday morning scouring the crash site for clues as to what happened.
The wreckage will be gathered up and taken to the TSB engineering lab in Ottawa, Luft said. The investigation could take as long as a year.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Montreal
