France is in mourning over the deaths of three sports stars in a helicopter collision while filming a reality TV show in Argentina.

Champion sailor Florence Arthaud and Olympians Camille Muffat and Alexis Vastine were among 10 people killed when two helicopters filming the survival series Dropped smashed into each other in the rugged mountains of La Rioja province on Monday.

“The whole of France is in mourning this morning,” said Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

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Rioja provincial spokesman Horacio Alarcon said there were no survivors in the crash, which happened in fine weather.

Local media showed the wreckage of the two aircraft in flames on dry scrubland in the northwestern Argentinian province.

Alongside the three stars, five French TV crew members and two Argentine pilots died.

Camille Muffat of France with her gold medal in 2012, was killed in the crash. Photo: AAP

Arthaud, 57, was considered one of the best sailors in the world, a woman who conquered what had been a strictly male-dominated sport. Her titles included the 1990 Route du Rhum, the most prestigious race to cross the Atlantic solo.

Muffat, 25, was one of the top swimmers in French history, winning three medals at the 2012 London Olympics, including gold in the 400-metres freestyle.

She shocked the sporting world in 2014 by announcing her retirement at the age of 24, exhausted by the long hours of training.

Vastine, 28, won boxing bronze at the Beijing games in 2008 in the light welterweight category.

President Francois Hollande led the tributes, saying the “brutal death of our compatriots is an immense sadness”.

Muffat’s former trainer Fabrice Pellerin told French radio station RTL: “What’s hard is to reconcile the image I have of Camille, who was unsinkable, with what happened.”

“To have in my head this strong girl, full of the joys of life, and then everything stops. I have known her since she was 13 so it’s like I’ve lost someone in my family.”

Dropped involved eight sports stars being dropped into inhospitable environments for an adventure- and survival-themed show.

Fellow contestant, former France and Arsenal football star Sylvain Wiltord, said on Twitter: “I am sad for my friends. I am horrified. I’m speechless. I don’t want to say anything.”

Production company Adventure Line Productions (ALP) said it was “shattered” by the tragedy. It said it would “of course” immediately stop production and repatriate the teams.

French prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation – standard procedure in France when a national dies abroad.

The Rioja provincial government said a cast and crew of about 80 people, mostly French nationals, had descended on the area to film the series.

Shooting began in late February in Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America in the glacial terrain of Patagonia.

It then moved to La Rioja, whose scenic mountain landscapes are popular with tourists.

The crash happened near the town of Villa Castelli, about 1100 kilometres north of the capital Buenos Aires.

A map of the province of La Rioja in Argentina, where two helicopters have crashed, killing 10 people.