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6 years ago

US Grand Canyon chopper crash kills three tourists

Photo- Reuters
Photo- Reuters

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Three people have been killed and four others wounded after a tourist helicopter crashed in the United States’ one of the top tourist destinations, Grand Canyon on Saturday, Arizona media and a federal aviation spokesman said.

The helicopter went down when it was on a tour of the canyon, more than a mile (1.6 km) deep, a dispatcher for the Hualapai Department of Emergency Services told Phoenix television station KNXV.

Three tourists were confirmed dead and four suffered unknown injuries, he said.

News agency Reuters reported quoting the dispatcher that authorities were possibly looking for one or two more people.

The Hualapai Department of Emergency Services directed calls to police, who did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The helicopter, an Eurocopter EC130 from Airbus, “crashed under unknown circumstances in the Grand Canyon” and suffered substantial damage, Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said in an email.

“Local authorities say that at least seven people were on board the helicopter,” he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, Kenitzer said.

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