David McCarty, Oregon groom killed in helicopter crash along with 3 nieces minutes before wedding after striking slackline stretched across Telegraph Canyon in Arizona. Nieces id as Rachel McCarty, Faith McCarty, and Katelyn Heideman. Bride to be identified as Joelleen Linstrom.
An Arizona man piloting a helicopter, just hours away from getting married has died along with his three nieces when their chopper went down in a remote area after departing from Pegasus Airpark.
David McCarty, 59, a Queen Creek resident originally from Oregon was killed along with his three young nieces: Rachel McCarty, 22, Faith McCarty, 21, and Katelyn Heideman, 21. The flight was meant to be a scenic ride before McCarty’s wedding to bride to be, Joelleen Linstrom.
Scenic helicopter ride over Telegraph Canyon, Arizona wedding tragedy
The helicopter went down at around 11am, Friday, January 2 in the rugged terrain of Telegraph Canyon, roughly 64 miles east of Phoenix, The Arizona Republic reported.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the helicopter’s rotor blades separate mid-flight before the aircraft plunging into the canyon. Initial investigations point to the helicopter having struck a recreational slack-line that had been stretched across the canyon, causing the fatal crash.
Investigators say the line stretched more than half a mile across the canyon.
‘An eyewitness who called 911 reported seeing the helicopter strike a portion of the line before falling to the bottom of the canyon,’ the sheriff’s office said in a statement, FOX10 reported.
What caused helicopter crash? How did pilot fly into slackline?
McCarty was due to tie the knot with Linstrom but had taken his nieces for a ride ahead of the ceremony, family said. The couple got engaged in September last year, according to their social media profiles.
Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the NTSB, said in an email that the helicopter ‘impacted wires and terrain under unknown circumstances,’ adding that investigators are working to determine how the slackline came to be placed across the flight path and whether it was visible to pilots.
No highliners were present at the time of the collision. The International Slackline Association (ISA) said the highline had aviation markers attached to it and that the FAA had been informed with a NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) having been issued before the collision barring pilots from flying nearby.
Experienced helicopter pilot and aviation expert
Officials said crews did not arrive on foot until around 5pm with the deaths of those onboard confirmed later that evening.
McCarty was a as an experienced pilot and the owner of Columbia Basin Helicopters, a company he founded in 1997 and operated out of La Grande.
Loved ones said McMarty often flew that same canyon without problems. Family members said the trip was intended to show his nieces the scenic area ahead of his wedding celebration.
Federal authorities, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), continue to investigate the exact cause of the accident.
