Five people were killed when a tourist helicopter crashed in a mountainous area of easte Teessee on Monday.
Teessee Emergency Management Association spokesman Dean Flener told the Associated Press that five people had died in the crash in Pigeon Forge, Te.
Flener said no homes were damaged and no one on the ground was injured when the helicopter went down.
Related Image
April 4, 2016: Five people were killed in a helicopter crash near Sevierville, Te. (Michael Crowe)
A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said the Bell 206 sightseeing helicopter crash was reported at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an email that officials said the helicopter was destroyed by fire.
The owner of Smokey Mountain Helicopters also told WVLT-TV in an on air interview that five people died in the crash.
The group was on the sight-seeing ride as part of a popular tourist activity about 200 miles east of Nashville.
"There's not much left of the helicopter," Pigeon Forge Police Chief Jack Baldwin said. "It's pretty much gone from the fire."
Baldwin said the helicopter appeared to have come down the side of a mountain and crashed at the foot of it.
"There's a little bit of the tail fin of the helicopter, and that's about all that's left, that and the console, that's about it," he said.
According to the website for Smokey Mountain Helicopters, the company has been offering tours of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and surrounding areas since 1964.
The site of the helicopter crash is about three miles from Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.