Helicopter Crashes During Audi TTS Pikes Peak Commercial Shoot

A helicopter that was being used to film an Audi Commercial crashed near the summit on Pikes Peak Highway in Colorado, as CNN reports.The helicopter had four passengers and was shooting a spot for Audi’s autonomous TTS Pikes Peak vehicle and the accident took place in clear weather.

One of the person was taken to hospital by helicopter, while the other three were transported by ambulance. According to KKTV, the pilot is still in hospital, while the other three have already left the medical care unit.

Audi has released a statement on the incident: “Audi is saddened by the helicopter incident that took place this morning near the summit of Pikes Peak. Today’s film crew was shooting a test run of the “Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak,” a joint program involving Audi, the Electronic Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California, and Stanford University.

"The goal of the project involves ascending Pikes Peak autonomously without a driver behind the wheel to demonstrate the capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems and GPS. The car was not involved in the incident.”

The company said the work on the Pikes Peak project has been temporarily suspended. It has also explained that the activity will be resumed sometime in the future, without mentioning an exact date.

"Further information on the helicopter incident will be released by the National Transportation Safety Board and local law enforcement officials. All research activities on Pikes Peak have been suspended. The research project will continue at a later date,” the statement added.