FTVLive sent out a rare breaking news alert email on Sunday, telling you about the crash of KRQE's (Albuquerque) news chopper. 

The Chopper was piloted by Bob Martin, a longtime Reporter-Videographer at the station.

Martin was killed as the chopper crashed and burned in a field near a New Mexico ghost town, authorities said Sunday.

Martin was pronounced dead at the crash scene Saturday night and the station's Bell B206 helicopter was destroyed, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Lynn Lunsford.

KRQE said Martin worked for the station for more than 20 years, frequently shooting, writing and editing stories. It was not clear whether Martin was assigned to cover a story when the crash happened.

"He was behind, or above, some of the biggest news stories on KRQE for the last three decades," station manager Bill Anderson said in a statement. "Yet he was rarely around for the high fives because he was already on to the next news story."

H/T AP