Helicopter crashes in the Grand Canyon

Author: CBS/AP
Published:
MGN

A helicopter on Saturday crashed in the Grand Canyon, authorities said. Hualapai Nation police Chief Francis Bradley told CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO three people had been killed.

Bradley said six passengers and a pilot were on board the Papillion helicopter when it crashed around 5:20 p.m. The other four were injured, and were still being treated at the scene.

An after-hours phone call to aerial tour company Papillion was not immediately returned Saturday. The company’s website says it flies roughly 600,000 passengers a year on Grand Canyon and other tours. It also notes that it “abides by flight safety rules and regulations that substantially exceed the regulations required by the Federal Aviation Administration.”

Longtime helicopter crash lawyer Gary C. Robb represented a woman badly burned in a deadly Papillion crash at the Grand Canyon in 2001. He said the company has made big improvements since that crash.

“They’ve improved their piloting qualifications as well as their maintenance over the last 10 years and as far as I know they’ve not had a crash since 2001,” he said. He said flying in the Grand Canyon can be treacherous simply because of the number of helicopters there.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Eurocopter EC130 crashed in unknown circumstances and sustained heavy damage.

Robb said his heart went out to the victims.

“This is not just the fact that a helicopter crashed, this is a human tragedy. People died and were horribly injured. It’s a tragedy for human beings,” Robb said.

It’s unclear where the crash occurred.

KPHO reported the FAA and the NTSB were on the scene.

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