3 killed, 4 hurt as copter crashes in Grand Canyon
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — Four survivors of a deadly tour helicopter crash onto the jagged rocks of the Grand Canyon were being treated at a Nevada hospital Sunday while crews tackled difficult terrain in a very remote area to try to recover the bodies of three others.
Six British tourists and a pilot were on board the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters copter when it crashed under unknown circumstances Saturday evening on the Hualapai Indian Reservation 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. “It’s unimaginable, the pain.”
Windy conditions, darkness, the remoteness of the area and the rugged terrain made it difficult to reach the helicopter’s wreckage, Hualapai Nation police Chief Francis Bradley said. Rescue crews had to be flown in, walk to the crash site and use night vision goggles to find their way around, he 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, according to the Arizona Republic. Authorities didn’t release the names or ages of the victims.
National Transportation Safety Board officials will investigate what caused the copter to go down, Bradley said. The Federal Aviation Administration also will be investigating the crash of the Eurocopter EC130, spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.
National Weather Service meteorologists said wind conditions were an estimated 10 mph with gusts of 20 mph around the time of the crash.
Papillon, based in Nevada, released a statement Sunday promising full cooperation with crash investigators.