Three people were killed in a helicopter crash while taping a reality television show in Southern California Sunday morning, local media outlets reported.

Three occupants of the ill-fated Bell 206B Jet Ranger helicopter were thrown out of the aircraft and pronounced dead at the scene, according to a report filed by Deadline.com.

The accident occurred at 3:40 a.m. local time on the Polsa Rosa Movie Ranch, 5726 Soledad Canyon Road near Acton, a residential community about 76 km north of downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Fire dispatcher Robert Diaz said.

They were filming a yet unnamed military series for Discovery Channel which involves JD Roth and Todd Nelson' s Eyeworks USA (formerly 3 Ball Prods.), according to the reports.

The filming was started Saturday. The crash took place some 56 km east of the movie location where actor Vic Morrow and two small children were killed in a 1982 accident.

The Los Angeles County Coroner' s office withheld the release of identities of the victims pending notification of next of kin.

The ranch is a movie, TV show and commercial location offered for rent to production companies. It has two airstrips, railroad tracks and "miles of roads," according to its website.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an investigation into the cause of the deadly crash. The Federal Aviation Administration also participates in the probe.