Pheonix, Sept 22: Recovery crews hiked into a rugged area of the Grand Canyon near Las Vegas to reach the remains of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed with seven people aboard, including at least four German and Japanese tourists. Authorities said there were no survivors. The helicopter, operating out of Las Vegas, went down after noon Saturday in rugged terrain about 96 kilometers east of Las Vegas. It burst into flames upon impact, according to the Mohave County Sheriff's office. The French-made Aerospatiale helicopter had taken off from the grand canyon west airport with the pilot and six passengers aboard and had been headed for the bottom of the canyon, said federal aviation administration operations officer Larri Frelow.
Two of the passengers were Japanese citizens and at least two others were German tourists, said Carlos Rooks, a spokesman for the Sheriff's office. He said the pilot was also Japanese. According to the Japanese consulate in Los Angeles, the pilot was a Japanese citizen who was a legal resident of the United States. Authorities did not immediately release the identities of the victims pending family notification.

Rooks said recovery crews had to hike to the crash site yesterday because the terrain was only accessible by foot. The national transportation safety board and FAA were among the agencies investigating.


Three investigators were looking for a cause of the crash, said Terry Williams, an NTSB spokesman in Washington, D.C.

Bureau Report