10.10 The three Olympians who were killed were much-loved in France.
• Sailor Florence Arthaud, 57, made sporting history and became a female icon in 1990 after becoming the first woman to win the Route du Rhum, the prestigious solo Atlantic race. It earned her the enduring nickname of “fiancée of the Atlantic”.
• Swimmer Camille Muffat, 25, won gold in the 400m freestyle in the 2012 London Olympics, and added a silver medal in the 200-metre freestyle and a bronze in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay.
• Boxer Alexis Vastine, 28, won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the light-welterweight category.
You can read more about the trio here .
10.05 An investigation has been opened in Paris for manslaughter over the helicopter crash.
10.03 Camille Muffat's boyfriend, William Forgues, 26, said her agent broke the news to him overnight. He then drove to her parents.
He told itele:
The most important thing to know is that often people called Camille "Madame 100 per cent" because she succeeded in almost everything she did. She went (to Argentina) very happy in every way. She chose to do this TV programme and loved it. She was where she wanted to be and the rest, c'est la vie.
09.57 The two helicopters were flying low, around 100m above the ground and very close to each other so the cameramen in each aircraft could film the rival teams in the air, according to Le Figaro's correspondent in Argentina. The helicopters took off just five metres apart, according to local media.
Eye witnesses cited by local media said one of the helicopters hit the other's tail, causing the damaged craft to crash. It plummetted to the bottom of a cliff, hampering reocvery attempts, reported Le Parisien. The first craft then caught fire and exploded in mid-air.
Local authorities, the helicopters were in excellent condition and weather conditions were fair.
09.44 More from Henry Samuel, who is following the story for us from Paris.
Tributes from fellow sportsmen and women are flooding in.
Laure Manaudou, the French Olympic swimming champion, wrote:
Second tragedy for the family of Alexis Vastine this year, as his sister died in a car crash two months ago.
He reportedly agreed to take part in the reality show to try and take his mind off her death.
09.43 To give you an idea of where the crash happened, AFP have just created this map:
09.38 “The whole of France is in mourning,” said Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, this morning.
France will organise a special tribute for the fallen sports champions and all those who died in the helicopter crash, said Patrick Kanner, the French sports minister.
09.24 France is in mourning after the death of three much-loved sporting personalities in a helicopter crash in Argentina, writes Henry Samuel in Paris.
Aged 8, she revelled in the victory of Frenchman Eric Tabarly in the Observer Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, ending years of Anglo-American domination. It felt like “revenge” for Napoleon’s defeats at the hands of admiral Horatio Nelson, she would later say.
She has had several brushes with death; a serious car accident put her in a coma when she was 17, while in 2011 she fell off her yacht off Corsica and was only saved thanks to her waterproof mobile phone. Picked up two hours later, she said: “My day hadn’t come. True miracles have happened.”
Camille Muffat, 25, won gold in the 400m freestyle in the 2012 London Olympics, and adding a silver medal in the 200-metre freestyle and a bronze in the 4 by 200-metre freestyle relay. A shy and unassuming champion, she first made a name for herself by beating her idol, French Olympic champion Laure Manaudou, at a medley event aged just 15. She retired from swimming last year to focus on her personal life.
Alexis Vastine, 28, won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the light-welterweight category. He was narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals of the 2012 Games, famously shedding tears at his defeat to Manuel Felix Diaz, after he was docked points by the referee in the final round – a decision many observers questioned.
Frustration struck again at the London Olympics, when he missed out on a medal after drawing on points in the quarter-finals but then losing on a complex countback rule. The hot-tempered Frenchman punched the ring with his naked fist, before once again breaking down in tears. “This is politics, not sport,” he later said.
He was determined to have another crack at Olympic gold in 2016.
08.52 Christian Estrosi, Nice mayor, has paid tribute to swimmer Camille Muffat, an Olympic gold medalist from Nice.
Selfie shot posted on Facebook shows contestants for the tragedy hit French TV reality show "Dropped" on the flight to Argentina from France
08.47 The series, which was to air on French television channel TF1, involved eight sports stars being dropped into inhospitable environments for an adventure- and survival-themed reality show.
One of the helicopters was provided by the provincial government and the other by the police force in the neighbouring province of Santiago del Estero.
08.45 Four members of the production staff were also killed, named as Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice Guilbert and Edouard Gilles, as well as the two Argentine pilots Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate.
In total, eight French nationals were killed in the crash, along with two Argentine helicopter pilots.
08.40 "The sudden death of our fellow French nationals is a cause of immense sadness," a statement from French President Francois Hollande's office in Paris said.
"The whole of French sport is in mourning because we have lost three huge champions," Sports Minister Thierry Braillard told RTL radio.
"Florence Arthaud – we all knew her as the 'Fiancee of the Atlantic'," he added, using Arthaud's nickname.
The scene of the crash
08.31 Three French sports stars – Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat, yachtswoman Florence Arthaud and boxer Alexis Vastine – were among 10 people killed when two helicopters collided in Argentina on Monday during the filming of a reality TV show.
Authorities said it was still unclear what caused the accident in the rugged western province of La Rioja near the Andes mountains.
Camille Muffat (left), Florence Arthaud (centre) and Alexis Vastine (right) died in the crash
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