http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=060404a8_helicoptercrash
Report: Pilot erred in 6-fatality crash
The Associated Press
Rescuers reach the rugged Grand Canyon area where a tourist helicopter crashed on Aug. 10, 2001.
LAS VEGAS - Pilot error caused a Grand Canyon tour helicopter crash that killed six people and badly hurt a seventh, federal investigators said.
A National Transportation Safety Board report issued yesterday said the probable cause of the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter crash on Aug. 10, 2001, was the pilot's decision to descend too fast and too close to a scenic cliff near Meadview, Ariz.
The maneuver "effectively limited any remedial options" before impact, the report stated. One of several passengers interviewed about previous flights with the pilot called the trip "frightening and thrilling at the same time," the report said.
Papillon Airways issued a statement in Las Vegas disputing the report and stressing its 38 years in business. It said it will seek more meetings with investigators.
"Papillon has been a party to this accident investigation, and our preliminary conclusions are not consistent with those of the NTSB," said Brenda Halverson, company president and chief executive.
Safety board spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi in Washington, D.C., declined additional comment.
The pilot, Kevin Innocenti, 27, and five of six sightseers from New York died in the crash about 60 miles east of Las Vegas.
The sole survivor, Chana Daskal, 28, suffered a broken back and burns over 85 percent of her body. The mother of two from Brooklyn was left paralyzed from the waist down, and her left leg and right foot were amputated.
Daskal's husband, David, and traveling companions Shayie Lichtenstein, Avi and Barbara Wajsbaum and Aryeh Zvi Fastag, all of Brooklyn, were killed.
The safety board reported no evidence of a mechanical malfunction before the American Eurocopter AS350-B2 helicopter crashed and burned in steep terrain about 600 yards below the rim of the scenic Grand Wash Cliffs.
The helicopter had refueled at the Grand Canyon West Airport near Meadview and was headed to Las Vegas when it crashed. The report said it appeared the engine stopped when the rotor hit the cliff wall.
Papillon, based in northern Arizona, faces several lawsuits, including a case filed by Daskal in Clark County District Court.
