Grand Canyon helicopter accident leaves 3 tourists dead

Grand Canyon helicopter accident leaves 3 tourists dead

A tourist helicopter crash in Arizona’s Grand Canyon has left three people dead and four with serious injuries.

The Papillion Grand Canyon Helicopter crashed at 5:20pm on the Hualapai Nation near Quartermaster Canyon.

While the identities of the victims are yet to be released, the six passengers are reportedly all tourists from the United Kingdom.

Hualapai Nation Police Chief Francis Bradley has said all passengers were immediately taken to a Las Vegas hospital.

“We are in the recovery and investigation mode now,” Bradley said.

“First responders had to be flown in and walk to the crash site,” he added.

“Quartermaster Canyon is an extremely remote area.

“We had to call in specially trained crews — people with night-vision goggles.”

Witness Lionel Douglass, who was attending a wedding a kilometre away, has said he saw victims walking out of the crash site after the accident took place.

Speaking to ABC News, Douglass said: “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.”

“It happened so fast. When I saw them turning, I wasn’t sure what he was doing and by the time I yelled to everybody to turn around and look, it was all out of control,” Douglass said.

“It fell down between the mountains, 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.”

Footage has emerged from just after the crash, showing a fire and plumes of smoke coming out of the site.

 

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