News helicopter crashes on roof; reporter, two pilots are 'stable'

NEW YORK (AP) -- A reporter and two pilots aboard a news helicopter that spun out of control and crashed on a Brooklyn rooftop escaped without serious injuries.
The copter had been covering a shooting in Brooklyn for WNBC-TV on Tuesday when it clipped a four-story building, broke apart and crash landed on the roof of a two-story dwelling.
Reporter Andrew Torres and the two pilots were hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday night, WNBC spokeswoman Liz Fischer said. "We have spoken to them, and they seem to be OK," she said. No one on the ground was harmed.
Witnesses said the copter sounded like a stuttering motorcycle before it went down.
The crash occurred about 6:20 p.m. Callers to 911 reported seeing the helicopter "fall from the sky" and onto the rooftop in a residential neighborhood of tree-lined streets and houses with yards. The tail of the helicopter hung over the side of the building.
Just a few minutes before the crash, Torres gave a live report on the shooting below. WNBC lost communication with the copter shortly before the crash, station spokeswoman Anna Carbonell said. The cause of the crash wasn't known.