A lone pilot on board a Bell 407 helicopter was killed when the aircraft slammed into the I-10 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain at the Bonnet Carre spillway Tuesday afternoon.
The pilot has not been identified.
The crash happened when there were low clouds and fog reported in the area. Entergy says the crash knocked out power to more than 20,000 customers in Kenner and Metairie.
An eyewitness who called in a report to WWL's Scoot in the Afternoon said there were low clouds and fog in the area, where a set of power lines cross right over the interstate.
"It was flying pretty low, and it kind of flew into the fog, and as soon as it started to go into the fog, I saw, I guess the tail, started going down, and then I saw pieces flying all over the place, and then I saw a black cloud of smoke, fire," he said. "You could see the patch of fog, probably a hundred yards ahead of me, and that's right where the power lines began. I'm 99 percent sure it hit a power line."
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
