- 3,194
Bodies of 7 in Grand Canyon Crash Found
By ANABELLE GARAY
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - A search team Monday recovered the bodies of a pilot and six sightseers killed when their tour helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon.
Investigators said they found evidence suggesting the chopper's main rotor hit a cliff face as the helicopter descended into the gorge.
The victims were being taken to the medical examiner in Kingman to verify their identities, said Jody Hall, a deputy medical examiner. An autopsy will be conducted on the pilot, Hall said.
Volunteer searchers and sheriff's deputies rappelled down the steep canyon walls to recover the bodies from the wreckage of Saturday's crash, said Lt. Rick Janssen, a spokesman for the Mohave County Sheriff's Department.
"It's a very remote location," Janssen said. "Communication is also difficult because it's down in a valley."
The sheriff's office identified the crash victims as Dr. Joseph Hanna, 52, and his wife, Nouhad, of Huntington, W.Va.; Masami Kato, 24, and Makiko Hatano, 23, both of Japan; and Julia Hueyng, 33, and Wolf-Dieter Mueller, 46, both of Germany. The pilot was identified as Takashi Mezaki, 45, a native of Japan who lived in California.
Hanna was a cardiologist at St. Mary's Regional Heart Institute in Huntington, an official there said.
The helicopter crashed and burst into flames Saturday about 50 miles northeast of Kingman in Descent Canyon near Grand Canyon West Airport, according to the Mohave County Sheriff's Department.
The helicopter had taken off from an airport near Peach Springs, Federal Aviation Administration officials said.
The aircraft was shuttling tourists from the rim of the canyon to a helipad along the Colorado River on what was supposed to be a four- to six-minute ride, according to Sundance Helicopters, the Las Vegas-based company that operated the aircraft.
Sightseers were to board a pontoon boat at the bottom of the canyon as part of a tour offered in a section of the Grand Canyon where the Hualapai Indian Reservation is located.
All passengers flew by plane from Las Vegas to board the helicopter.
Investigators spent Monday at the crash site near an almost vertical part of a gorge, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Wayne Pollack said at a news conference at the Las Vegas airport.
A piece of the main rotor was found about 250 yards from the site. The engine and tail rotor assembly also were found, he said.
Pollack said one person who saw the chopper after it took off told investigators there was no indication anything was wrong. Saturday's weather was clear.
Pollack, noting the inquiry will take several months, said investigators planned to focus Tuesday on maintenance records and on interviewing witnesses.
Jim Granquist, chief executive of Sundance Helicopters, did not return calls for comment Monday. He has said he knew of no record of mechanical problems with the chopper.
According to FAA records, the AS-350 chopper made by Aerospatiale was involved in two minor incidents in 2000. No serious injuries or damage was reported.
Saturday's accident was the deadliest canyon tour crash since 1995, when eight people aboard a plane died while trying to return to Grand Canyon Airport.
Saturday's crash happened in the same vicinity where a helicopter went down in August 2001, killing six.
==========================================
I recently took this tour (Sept. 4) while on vacation.
Takashi was our pilot.
Though I only knew him for 3.5 hours, I will say he was a very professional and courtious man. Ironically, we were going to have our picture taken with him, but used the last of the film on a thunderstorm that he recommended we photograph from the air, on the ride back from the GC.
I really wish there was one specific word for the emotion I'm feeling right now. Sorrow; relief; anxiety; regret; parinoia; disbelief.......
R.I.P. Takashi Mezaki
By ANABELLE GARAY
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - A search team Monday recovered the bodies of a pilot and six sightseers killed when their tour helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon.
Investigators said they found evidence suggesting the chopper's main rotor hit a cliff face as the helicopter descended into the gorge.
The victims were being taken to the medical examiner in Kingman to verify their identities, said Jody Hall, a deputy medical examiner. An autopsy will be conducted on the pilot, Hall said.
Volunteer searchers and sheriff's deputies rappelled down the steep canyon walls to recover the bodies from the wreckage of Saturday's crash, said Lt. Rick Janssen, a spokesman for the Mohave County Sheriff's Department.
"It's a very remote location," Janssen said. "Communication is also difficult because it's down in a valley."
The sheriff's office identified the crash victims as Dr. Joseph Hanna, 52, and his wife, Nouhad, of Huntington, W.Va.; Masami Kato, 24, and Makiko Hatano, 23, both of Japan; and Julia Hueyng, 33, and Wolf-Dieter Mueller, 46, both of Germany. The pilot was identified as Takashi Mezaki, 45, a native of Japan who lived in California.
Hanna was a cardiologist at St. Mary's Regional Heart Institute in Huntington, an official there said.
The helicopter crashed and burst into flames Saturday about 50 miles northeast of Kingman in Descent Canyon near Grand Canyon West Airport, according to the Mohave County Sheriff's Department.
The helicopter had taken off from an airport near Peach Springs, Federal Aviation Administration officials said.
The aircraft was shuttling tourists from the rim of the canyon to a helipad along the Colorado River on what was supposed to be a four- to six-minute ride, according to Sundance Helicopters, the Las Vegas-based company that operated the aircraft.
Sightseers were to board a pontoon boat at the bottom of the canyon as part of a tour offered in a section of the Grand Canyon where the Hualapai Indian Reservation is located.
All passengers flew by plane from Las Vegas to board the helicopter.
Investigators spent Monday at the crash site near an almost vertical part of a gorge, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Wayne Pollack said at a news conference at the Las Vegas airport.
A piece of the main rotor was found about 250 yards from the site. The engine and tail rotor assembly also were found, he said.
Pollack said one person who saw the chopper after it took off told investigators there was no indication anything was wrong. Saturday's weather was clear.
Pollack, noting the inquiry will take several months, said investigators planned to focus Tuesday on maintenance records and on interviewing witnesses.
Jim Granquist, chief executive of Sundance Helicopters, did not return calls for comment Monday. He has said he knew of no record of mechanical problems with the chopper.
According to FAA records, the AS-350 chopper made by Aerospatiale was involved in two minor incidents in 2000. No serious injuries or damage was reported.
Saturday's accident was the deadliest canyon tour crash since 1995, when eight people aboard a plane died while trying to return to Grand Canyon Airport.
Saturday's crash happened in the same vicinity where a helicopter went down in August 2001, killing six.
==========================================
I recently took this tour (Sept. 4) while on vacation.
Takashi was our pilot.
Though I only knew him for 3.5 hours, I will say he was a very professional and courtious man. Ironically, we were going to have our picture taken with him, but used the last of the film on a thunderstorm that he recommended we photograph from the air, on the ride back from the GC.I really wish there was one specific word for the emotion I'm feeling right now. Sorrow; relief; anxiety; regret; parinoia; disbelief.......
R.I.P. Takashi Mezaki
