3 dead in copter crash on Calif. reality TV set

"We wouldn't have referenced helicopter activity if we didn't already have pre-approval from the FAA," Sokoloski said.

The cause and other circumstances surrounding the crash were still unknown, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.

Television footage showed mangled wreckage in a rugged canyon.

According to its website, Polsa Rosa is a "movie ranch" where film crews can utilize a variety of terrains as well as two airstrips. The ranch, according to the Internet Movie Database, was used in "Windtalkers" and last year's remake of "Red Dawn."

It was the site of another entertainment industry death in September, when a 48-year-old crew member died of an apparent heart attack while underwater in scuba gear on the set of the upcoming Johnny Depp film "The Lone Ranger."

Sunday's wreck was also just 25 miles from a similar rural spot in Santa Clarita where actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed in another helicopter crash while filming the "Twilight Zone" movie in 1982.

That crash brought changes in production restrictions and led to producer John Landis and four others being charged with involuntary manslaughter. All were acquitted.

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Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Tang reported from Phoenix.