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Teen Dies After RC Helicopter Accident

The accident is the most recent fatal RC accident since 2003.

A teenager was killed last week when a remote-controlled aircraft he was flying struck him in the head, officials say.

Roman Pirozek, 19, was flying his RC helicopter, worth about $2,000, in Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday afternoon when the accident occurred. Some witnesses say he was performing “aggressive” maneuvers with the helicopter when it came crashing down on his head.

Pirozek, who was known as an experienced and avid remote-control aircraft flier, was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Academy of Model Aeronautics, these types of accidents are rare. Before Thursday’s accident, the most recent fatality involving RC aircraft occurred in Texas in 2003, when an RC instructor was struck and killed by an aircraft flown by a student.

Authorities are currently looking into the circumstances surrounding the accident last week.

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