JINAN - One pilot died after a helicopter crashed in east China's Shandong Province Sunday, local authorities said.

The helicopter, which was on a pesticide-spraying mission in Yishui county, crashed in the neighboring county of Yinan at about 7:10 a.m., the Yishui county's publicity department said in a statement.

The aircraft was a SW-4 copter owned by an aviation company based in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

An investigation into the cause of the crash is under way.