A man has been killed in a helicopter crash west of Newcastle this afternoon.
NSW Police say they were called to Maitland Vale, about 10 kilometres north of Maitland at 4:20pm.
They found a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter crashed on a bank of the Hunter River with a male occupant dead inside.
He is yet to be formally identified.
Nearby resident Lou van der Vliet said the helicopter was "very loud" before it crashed 200 metres from the back boundary of his small acreage.
"I was doing some work here and had my back to it," he said.
"All of a sudden there was a big explosion … and then a plume of smoke came up."
Mr van der Vliet said he called emergency services and helped direct them around water in the area so they could get to the location.
"The wreckage is everywhere," he said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will conduct and investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
