Two helicopters crashed in New Jersey in what federal authorities say was a mid-air collision that killed one person and critically injured another.

Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said rescuers responded to a report of an aviation crash at about 11:25am local time on Sunday, and police and fire crews subsequently extinguished flames that engulfed one of the helicopters.

One person was killed and another was taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries. Video from the scene showed a helicopter spinning rapidly to the ground.

Hammonton is a town of about 15,000 people located in Atlantic County in the southern part of New Jersey, about 56 km (35 miles) southeast of Philadelphia.

The town has a history of agriculture and is located near the Pine Barrens, a forested wilderness area that covers more than 405,000 hectares (1 million acres).