REPORT: Helicopter crashes while racing on Top Gear show

            
On a recent episode of the South Korean version of the hit television motor sports show Top Gear, a dramatic stunt took to a turn to the worse.           

The show known for its dramatic stunts in pitting man against machine ended in tragedy after a drag race between a Corvette ZR1 and an AH-1 Cobra helicopter ended with the chopper smashing into the Arizona desert just beyond the finish line.             

Footage published to YouTube shows the Corvette narrowly beating the ex-military chopper in a sprint at the Coolidge Municipal Airport, 50 miles southeast of Phoenix. Everything appears to be in order until the aircraft banks too sharply to the right and crashes to the ground. Presenter Kim Jin Pyo, behind the wheel of the Corvette ZR1, revels in his victory against the chopper before realizing the disaster transpiring just feet away and runs off to help.               

The pilot apparently escaped unscathed. The copter, though, reportedly worth more than $11 million, crumbles into the dirt. “This was an accident that was caught on camera during filming for Top Gear Korea,” reads the video’s description. “Thankfully no one was seriously injured.” The pilot and mechanic both sustained minor injuries.            

The popular BBC show first broadcast in 1977 but was relaunched with a more edgy feel in 2002. The relaunched British version of Top Gear, fronted by British personality Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear boasts an audience of 350 million viewers per week across 170 countries, reports CBS. The show has been spun off into four other local versions, including the U.S. and Russia. The South Korean version started airing in 2011.


To watch the full report, please click on the video above