Safety

Investigation starts in France after helicopter decapitates two restaurant patrons waving off fellow diners

By Kate Sarsfield

An investigation has been launched into the cause of a helicopter accident in southern France on Sunday that killed three people on the ground and seriously injured another. 

The pilot and three passengers survived when their Aerospatiale Alouette II crashed into the garden of a restaurant near Marseilles.

Local police reports say the helicopter was carrying guests who had been lunching at the Chez Bob restaurant, near Arles in the Camargue region.  Their dining companions had walked into the garden of the restaurant to wave goodbye when the helicopter came down. Two of the onlookers were decapitated by the rotors.