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Student, instructor killed in crash

FREMONT, Calif., July 4 (UPI) -- A student pilot and his instructor died Friday morning when their helicopter struck a power line near I-680 in the San Francisco area.

The crash occurred at about 12:30 a.m., the San Jose Mercury News reported.

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Officials said Larry Anderson, an assistant fire chief with the Fremont Fire Department, witnessed the crash. He was driving home on I-680 when he saw one of the propellers of the helicopter hit a power line.

The helicopter crash-landed on a local street, bursting into flames almost immediately. The magnesium engine burned, creating a fire that spread to nearby brush, consuming 10 acres before firefighters extinguished it.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, identified the helicopter as a Schweizer 269. The identities of the two victims, both men, had not been released late Friday.

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