Last week the NTSB issued several safety recommendations stemming from the Sept. 20, 2003 crash of a Sundance Helicopters Eurocopter AS 350BA into a canyon wall in the Grand Canyon, killing the pilot and all six passengers. According to the Safety Board, the pilot disregarded safe flying procedures and misjudged the helicopter’s proximity to terrain.
Colorado Plateau
May 2, 2007 - 5:14am
In August 1987 the National Parks Overflight Act (NPOA) mandated that the FAA and National Parks Service (NPS) work together to achieve “substantial restoration of natural quiet” in the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
January 31, 2007 - 8:23am
In 1987 the National Parks Overflights Act mandated substantial restoration of “natural quiet” at Grand Canyon National Park. Seventeen years later, the FAA and the National Park Service (NPS) agreed to resolve the overflight noise issues together.
October 9, 2006 - 10:44am
Ikuko Hatano, a woman whose daughter died in the 2003 Sundance Helicopters crash in the Grand Canyon, was awarded $3.2 million in damages by a Clark County jury. During an air-tour sightseeing flight on Sept. 20, 2003, a Sundance-operated Eurocopter AS 350BA collided with a canyon wall and crashed. The accident took place during a VFR descent into Descent Canyon, about 1.5 miles east of the Grand Canyon West Airport.
