Helicopter and plane collide midair in Arizona; 2 killed

A helicopter crashed and burned, killing both of its occupants, after the copter collided in midair over suburban Phoenix with a single-engine plane that landed safely at an airport, authorities said.

Chandler Police Sgt. Jason McClimans confirmed that the collision happened near Chandler Municipal Airport.

McClimans and a Fire Department spokesman, Battalion Chief Keith Welch, confirmed that two people aboard the helicopter were killed.

News video showed a fire crew using a tarp to cove the helicopter's burned wreckage in brush on what appeared to be a vacant lot or field near the airport's southern boundary.

News video also showed the plane upright just off a runway. Its fuselage appeared to be intact.

No one on the ground was injured, McClimans said.