Victims of helicopter fireball were on birthday adventure
Three Britons on holiday to mark wedding and birthday are killed in copter crash – and 3 are critical
THE six friends had hoped it would be the spectacular highlight of a unique double celebration.
But their helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon – planned to mark a 30th birthday and a wedding – was to end in tragedy.
Stuart Hill, 30, his girlfriend Becky Dobson, 27, and his 32-year-old brother Jason Hill were all killed when the aircraft crashed and burst into flames.
Another three Britons – newlyweds Jon Udall, 32, and Ellie Milward, 29 and Jason’s girlfriend Jennifer Barham – suffered serious injuries. They were last night in a critical condition in hospital along with the pilot.
Seriously injured, the four survivors had to wait for more than eight hours for rescue after the Eurocopter EC130 plummeted to the ground near the Grand Canyon’s West Rim on Saturday.
High winds meant emergency teams could not fly into the crash site and had to hike down to the remote spot using night vision goggles to reach them. Pictures showed the flaming wreckage – and a female survivor in white top and jeans fleeing the scene.
Last night Stuart and Jason Hill’s devastated father David paid moving tribute to his sons, who he described as ‘inseparable’.
The hospital chaplain, from Worthing in West Sussex, told how the group of six friends had saved money for more than a year to pay for the holiday in Las Vegas and had been excited about the helicopter trip. He said: ‘The two brothers loved each other and were very close, and so our misfortune is their support – because they went together. I will thank God for them every day.’
Mr Hill said he and his wife Sandra were ‘truly devastated’ by their sons’ deaths, adding: ‘We are so lucky to have had our boys for 30 years. We are so heartbroken.’
Describing his family as Team Hill, he wept as he said: ‘They were truly loved by lots of people.
‘They were incredibly close and as parents we feel blessed to have had them, but a light has truly gone out.’ A memorial service for the brothers is being planned at the Broadwater Baptist Church in Worthing, where their father was a minister for 25 years. Law gradu- ate Jason Hill had been working as a solicitor with legal firm Shoosmiths in Milton Keynes and was reportedly about to become a partner. His 39-year-old girlfriend Miss Barham was also a lawyer.
Stuart Hill worked as a Mercedes salesman, while his girlfriend Miss Dobson – the youngest victim of the tragedy – was a vets’ receptionist from Worthing. She had worked as an au pair in Australia before returning home to pursue her dream of qualifying as a veterinary nurse. On the website of her employer, Vets 4 Pets, she had written about her love of travel and horses.
Her parents Peter and Jane flew back from a holiday in Turkey after learning of the tragedy. Mr Dobson said his daughter was ‘full of life’ and looking forward to the Vegas trip 30th to birthday. celebrate He her said: boyfriend’s ‘She was always happy. They were really happy together, they were always going out and doing things, just enjoyed being with each other. The whole thing is just terrible.’
Mr Dobson said the three couples had flown to Las Vegas for a long weekend, ahead of Mr Hill’s birthday on Friday. The next day, they boarded the helicopter, operated by sightseeing firm Papillon. The three couples were the only passengers. An investigation has been launched and is expected to consider weather conditions, following reports of a serious storm in the area, although no flight restrictions were in place. Pilot error and mechanical failure are also likely to be investigated. A
‘A light has truly gone out’
previous crash involving a Papillon helicopter, which killed five passengers and the pilot in 2001, was blamed on pilot error.
Witnesses to Saturday’s crash said the helicopter began to circle over a remote area known as Quartermaster Canyon and appeared out of control.
Lionel Douglass, who had been attending a wedding on a bluff about 1,000 yards away from where the helicopter burst into flames, said: ‘It fell between the mountain, the tail broke in half, it hit the bottom and it was the biggest explosion you ever heard and then flames like you never seen before.’
He added: ‘I had taken my phone and I was zooming in to see if I could see anybody and a lady walked out of the flames and I just lost it.’ Jason Hill’s girlfriend Miss Barham is believed to have staggered from the wreckage screaming his name.
She and married couple Mr Udall and Miss Milward were all airlifted to the University Medical Centre in Las Vegas, along with 42-yearold helicopter pilot Scott Booth.
Mr Udall’s father Philip said he and wife Marlene were desperately trying to get a flight to be with the injured couple, who married in November.
He said: ‘We have spoken to the hospital and they are in a critical condition but they told us they are currently stable … at this point, we don’t know much more we are just in a rush to get out there.’
Friend Jenni Birchmore, who worked with the newlywed couple at Yorkshire Building Society in Worthing, said: ‘I’m so, so shocked by this. Ellie and I were only talking about her trip to the US a couple of weeks ago and she was looking forward to it so much.
‘They only got married at the end of last year, but Ellie said it wasn’t a honeymoon; they were going to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday. That it should end so horribly is a tragedy.’ The three couples were close friends and Stuart Hill and Miss Dobson were among the guests at the happy couple’s wedding in the New Forest.
Helicopter tours of the Grand Canyon cost up to £450-a-head and Papillon describes itself as ‘the largest and most experienced helicopter tour operator in the world’. Its chief executive Brenda Halvorson said it would cooperate with the investigation, saying: ‘It is with extreme sadness we extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families involved in this accident.
‘Our top priority is the care and needs of our passengers and our staff.’ It reportedly took rescuers more than eight hours to get to the survivors and the injured were not airlifted from the scene until around 2am on Sunday.
Hualapai Police chief Francis Bradley said: ‘We were hampered by severe weather conditions, we had gusts up to 50mph. The terrain where the crash occurred... is extremely rugged.’
He said the helicopter tour originated in Boulder City, Nevada, and that a storm was rolling into the area at the time. Although the conditions were ‘not normal’, no flight restrictions were in place, he said.
‘Flames like you’ve never seen’