Audi helicopter crash

UPDATE Audi is saddened by the helicopter incident that took place this morning near the summit of Pikes Peak. Today's film crew was shooting a test run of the "Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak," a joint program involving Audi, the Electronic Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California, and Stanford University. The goal of the project involves ascending Pikes Peak autonomously without a driver behind the wheel to demonstrate the capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems and GPS. The car was not involved in the incident. Audi PR

09/17/10 At least three people were injured when a civilian helicopter crashed about a half-mile from the summit of Pikes Peak Friday morning.

The crash occurred shortly before 8 a.m. at an elevation of 13,800 feet near the junction of the Pikes Peak highway and the Pikes Peak Cog Railroad.

A Pikes Peak ranger said that the injured were part of a crew filming an Audi "driverless" car.

The crash closed the Pikes Peak highway beyond the Crystal Reservoir.

A critically injured person was transported by helicopter to a hospital. Medical helicopters were transporting the other two patients to ambulances waiting at a location down the mountain.

Stanford University earlier this week announced that a driverless Audi vehicle, called the Shelley, would be tested on the switchbacks of the Pikes Peak highway.