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Helicopter Crash Las Vegas

December 8, 2011 by · Comments Off on Helicopter Crash Las Vegas 

Helicopter Crash Las Vegas, Recovery teams using all-terrain vehicles prepared to trek up a rugged canyon near Lake Mead Thursday to retrieve five bodies from a remote site where a tour helicopter crashed during a sunset sightseeing flight over the Las Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators planned a morning briefing at McCarran International Airport about the crash just before 5 p.m. Wednesday of the chopper operated by Sundance Helicopters in Las Vegas.

The pilot and four tourists were killed, though authorities have not yet released information about the identities of the victims.

Company chief executive Larry Pietropaulo did not immediately respond Thursday to messages seeking comment. A company reservations agent said flight operations were suspended for the day.

Morning television news video showed a charred crash site amid scrub brush in a canyon west of the edge of the Colorado River reservoir some 30 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.

Witnesses told authorities late Wednesday that they heard the crash and saw smoke about four miles from the lake, National Park Service spokesman Andrew Munoz said.

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