US glider planes collide mid-air in New York, one pilot killed

A glider pilot was killed after two glider planes collided midair over Saratoga County in New York on Friday, authorities said.According to the New York State Police, the collision took place near Wheeler Road in the town of Edinburg shortly before 2:30 pm. Police, forest rangers, and the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office launched a search, and the wreckage of one glider was later found in a remote area near Sand Lake Road.The pilot of the crashed glider was found dead at the scene. Authorities have not yet released the pilot’s identity.The second glider managed to land safely at Plateau Sky Ranch Airport, and its pilot was not injured, police said. Neither aircraft had any passengers on board.The Federal Aviation Administration identified the crashed aircraft as a Schempp-Hirth Ventus, while the glider that landed safely was a Schleicher AS24.The crash triggered a major response from local emergency services. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the collision, the FAA said.Edinburg, a town of more than 1,300 people, is located about 54 miles northwest of Albany.In another incident that took place on Tuesday, at least three people were killed after a helicopter being used by NBC News crashed into a parking lot in Los Angeles, officials said.The helicopter went down shortly before 7 pm near a storage facility in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, according to officials.NBC4 Los Angeles anchor Colleen Williams confirmed the crash during a live broadcast before the station abruptly cut its coverage.“We’re going to take a couple of minutes to process this,” Williams said, her voice shaking.The helicopter crash occurred as news crews were covering a separate bus crash in the area. The bus crash killed at least two people and injured six others, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.The circumstances surrounding the helicopter crash were not immediately clear.