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Slackline May Have Caused Fatal Arizona Crash
4 Jan
Summary
- Four relatives died when a helicopter crashed in Arizona mountains.
- A recreational slackline was found strung across the mountains.
- An eyewitness reported the helicopter struck the slackline before crashing.
Four members of a family from Oregon, including three young cousins and their uncle, perished in a helicopter crash in the Arizona desert on January 2nd. David McCarty, the pilot and uncle, was en route to his own wedding when the private aircraft went down in the mountains near Telegraph Canyon. His fiancée, Joelleen Linstrom, was awaiting his arrival.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office reported that preliminary evidence points to a recreational slackline, extending over a kilometer, as a potential cause of the crash. An eyewitness informed authorities that the helicopter appeared to strike a portion of this line before its fatal descent into the canyon.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Agency have launched a joint investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash. The helicopter had departed from Pegasus Airpark in Queen Creek, Arizona, and emergency services located the wreckage on foot later that day.
