The pilot and traffic reporter on board a news gathering helicopter escaped harm when their Bell 206B3 JetRanger III lost power and made a hard landing near I-95 in West Palm Beach, FL on Nov. 11. The WPEC-12 reporter said he saw the chopper's main rotor stop spinning as it neared the ground. Both men were able to extract themselves from the stricken helicopter that landed hard on its belly. The pilot was able to maneuver to avoid nearby power lines, though the JetRanger's tail boom hit a tree and split in half.

This was the reporter's second helicopter crash. In 1998, he experienced a wild ride when his helicopter lost a tail rotor blade and began spinning out of control. The helicopter flew about a mile before clipping a palmetto tree. The impact in that earlier accident broke the reporter's ankle.

A Bell 206L4 news gathering helicopter crashed in a Texas state forest Oct. 13, killing the pilot and reporter/television photographer.

The two were covering a shooting north of Houston for KTRK-TV, the ABC affiliate in Houston, when their SkyEye 13 helicopter went down in the W.G. Jones State Forest.

Authorities from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB are investigating the fatal accident.

The chopper, powered by a Rolls Royce 250-C30P 650hp engine, was owned by Helicopters Inc., which leases helicopters to about 70 newsgathering organizations. The station aired the final seconds of video it received from the helicopter. The video showed the helicopter banking to the right before the screen went to black.

As the wreckage was removed from the scene for detailed inspection, NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Arnold Scott reportedly told the TV station, "We've examined the helicopter, and we're satisfied that the helicopter was intact at impact when it started hitting the trees."

Investigators added they also found what on first glance appeared to be possible issues within the helicopter's engine, although they stressed nothing concrete has been determined as of yet.

In August, federal investigators released a series of reports about the midair collision of two Phoenix TV news helicopters last year.

The reports did not determine the probable cause of the midair or place blame for the crash that killed four journalists. That will come from analysis by investigators that will eventually be presented to the National Transportation Safety Board members.

The choppers from KNXV-TV and KTVK-TV were covering a Phoenix police chase on July 27, 2007 when they collided over a park and plunged to the ground. A pilot and news photographer on each aircraft was killed.

The NTSB's preliminary accident report said witnesses indicated the KTVK helicopter was relatively stationary and the KNXV helicopter was maneuvering. By all indications, the crash appeared to have happened because at least one pilot lost sight of another.