3 dead in Grand Canyon helicopter crash
Four survivors airlifted to Vegas hospital; cause of crash is under investigation
PHOENIX — Four survivors of a deadly tour helicopter crash onto the jagged rocks of the Grand Canyon were being treated at a Nevada hospital on Sunday while crews tackled difficult terrain in a remote area to try to recover the bodies of three other people.
Six British tourists and a pilot were on board the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters chopper when it crashed under unknown circumstances on Saturday evening on the Hualapai Nation’s land near Quartermaster Canyon, by the Grand Canyon’s West Rim. A witness said he saw flames and black smoke spewing from the crash site, heard explosions and saw victims who were bleeding and badly burned.
“It’s just horrible,” witness Teddy Fujimoto said. “And those victims — she was so badly burned. It’s unimaginable, the pain.”
Windy conditions, darkness and the rugged terrain made it difficult to reach the helicopter’s wreckage, Hualapai Nation police Chief Francis Bradley said. Rescue crews had to fly in, walk to the crash site and use night vision goggles to find their way around, he said.
The survivors were airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital by around 2 a.m. Sunday, Bradley said.
All six passengers were from the United Kingdom, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed. Three passengers and the pilot were airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital early Sunday, Bradley said.
Authorities didn’t immediately release the names or ages of the victims.
National Transportation Safety Board officials were expected at the crash scene Sunday afternoon to begin investigating what caused the chopper to go down, Bradley said. The Federal Aviation Administration will also investigate the Eurocopter EC130, crash.
National Weather Service meteorologists said winds were blowing an estimated 10 mph with gusts of 20 around the time of the crash.