Copter down in the Grand Canyon; 3 die

THREE PEOPLE were killed in a helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon — on a craft operated by the same sightseeing company behind a 2001 accident that killed five New Yorkers.

The chopper, operated by Nevada-based Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, had seven people on board, including the pilot, when it crashed on the Hualapai Nation reservation just before 5:30 p.m. Saturday, tribal Police Chief Francis Bradley said.

The six passengers were British nationals, a UK consulate official in London confirmed Sunday night.

The helicopter, a Eurocopter EC130, took off from its Las Vegas facility and went down near Quartermaster Canyon, which is near the Grand Canyon’s West Rim.

The four survivors were seriously injured and were being treated at a Nevada hospital Sunday, while crews were working to recover the three bodies.

The father of the sole survivor in the Aug. 10, 2001, crash said the tour company should never have been allowed to keep operating.

“It’s not safe to go with them,” Isaac Braun, whose daughter Chana Daskal, now 45, was badly burned in the crash, told the Daily News. “How can the federal government let them still go around on helicopters?”

Daskal suffered burns on 85% to 90% of her body and is still dealing with health troubles nearly 17 years later, her father said.

“She’s still suffering,” said the dad, whose daughter lives with him in Seagate, Brooklyn.

Daskal’s husband, four friends and the pilot were killed after the pilot lost control of the American Eurocopter AS350 aircraft and crashed near the Grand Wash Cliffs.

Witness Teddy Fujimoto said he was taking photos Saturday when he saw two badly burned and bleeding women running from the fiery wreckage.

“I saw these two ladies run out of it, and then an explosion.,” Fujimoto told KSNV-TV.

The cause of the crash has not been determined.