Authorities say it could take up to a year to find the cause of last night's helicopter crash in the South Australian outback which claimed the lives of three of the ABC's most respected newsmen.
Journalist Paul Lockyer, pilot Gary Ticehurst and cameraman John Bean died when their chopper crashed near Lake Eyre on Thursday evening.
The experienced crew had been working on news and feature projects in the Lake Eyre region when their Sydney-based helicopter went down in a remote area north of Marree about 7:30pm.
Just before the crash the trio had been interviewing tourists on a small island near Lake Eyre, and after taking off a witness reported seeing the helicopter do an unusual manoeuvre and then drop out of sight.
ABC reporter Scott Bills has flown over the remote scene and said there appeared to have been a massive fire.
"There's not much left of the chopper at all. There's a small piece of the tail rotor and we could make out a bit of the main rotor as well, but the rest is just charred ash," he said.
"All of the ground surrounding the helicopter, about 50 metres of it, has all been blacked out."
South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Smith says burned wreckage was spread over a wide area at the remote crash site 140 kilometres north of Marree.
He says heavy rainfall in the area had made it difficult for local officers to reach the site and removing the bodies would be difficult.
"It could take days. We have to work with the air safety people as well. I'm not expecting it to be a quick job," he said.
"This area is very remote; it's very hard to access; it's quite difficult country. Communication is very poor and we can't even get a vehicle into where the site is.
"There was a tour guide and some people in the area. The information we have is that the helicopter had landed and [the people on board] had a conversation with those people and then departed.
"The helicopter has taken off, flown from the area, and when it was approximately two to three kilometres from the area, the tour guide and the other people in the area noticed a very large fireball in the distance.
"[The crash site is] pretty much surrounded by water... which makes it basically impassable."
An investigation into the cause of the crash has begun.
Photos of the crash site released on Friday showed three blue tarpaulins in the midst of burned wreckage.
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