A helicopter crash that happened about 70 miles north of Phoenix on Saturday has left no survivors.
At around noon on Saturday, a privately owned civilian UH-1V helicopter crashed near Mayer, Ariz., Battalion Fire Chief Michael McGhee of the Mayer Fire Department said in a statement, reports ABC 15.
CNN reports that the helicopter was destroyed upon impact, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. The helicopter crashed nose first along Arizona’s Interstate 17 near Mile Post 268 and burst into flames, letting off plumes of black smoke.
Officials have not released any other information about the condition of the helicopter.
Fire officials said in a statement that they can confirm that there are no survivors, but it is still unclear as to how many people were on board at the time of the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the helicopter was registered to an unidentified private owner out of Cave Creek, according to AZ Central.
Witness Adam Soto was out shooting with his brother when they saw the helicopter crash.
“And I looked up, and it was almost like the helicopter was at a standstill, almost wasn't moving,” he told ABC 15. “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, look at that.’ And then my brother looked up and he was like, ‘Whoa.’ And the next thing we knew, it turned over and took a nose dive straight down.”
He called 911 after witnessing the crash and tried to get closer to the helicopter to help as they waited for emergency services to arrive.
"It was nothing like I had ever seen before. It wasn't a lot of fire, kind of a small fire but a lot of black smoke. It smelled like jet fuel, it smelled really bad. Parts of the helicopter all around, big parts, little parts."
The investigation into what caused the crash is ongoing.