Dad tells of son’s passion for flight

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2001 | 11:46 a.m.

The parents of a local tour helicopter pilot killed in a crash near the Grand Canyon were flown to the rocky terrain of the accident Tuesday after telling a gathering at a memorial service in Las Vegas of their son's love of flying.

Franco Innocenti told more than 70 family and friends of pilot Kevin Innocenti gathered at the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter company's hangar in Las Vegas that his son had always wanted to fly.

Kevin Innocenti was always fascinated with flying, he said. Since he was 3 years old, he always had helicopter toys, the father told friends and family gathered to remember the 27-year-old Henderson pilot.

"It really meant a lot of him that so many of Kevin's friends came out," said Irit Langness, a Papillon Helicopter official.

After the private memorial service, Kevin Innocenti's mother, father and brother were flown to the location of Friday's crash that killed Innocenti and five New York tourists.

"It was their request to go to the site. It was part of what they wanted to do," Langness said.

A funeral will be held this weekend in El Segundo, Calif., for Innocenti.

Innocenti started flying as soon as he was old enough to get a license, Langness said.

There were no reports of accidents or discipline on his record. He recently had his medical certification renewed and his license was in good standing, said Jerry Snyder, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

Innocenti had flown for Papillon for about a year and made the flight over the Grand Canyon likely hundreds of times, as company officials said pilots often make the flight three times a day.

About 2:30 p.m. Friday near Meadview, Ariz., 60 miles east of Las Vegas, the helicopter crashed, killing Innocenti and five of his six New York tourist passengers. The lone survivor, Chana Daskal, remained in critical condition this morning at University Medical Center with burns over 80 percent of her body.

The tourists were mourned Monday in New York. Hundreds of people turned out for the funerals of Daskal's husband, David Daskal, Avi and Barbara Wajsbaum, Shiya Lichtenstein and Arie Fastag.

The Maricopa County medical examiner's office in Phoenix released the causes of death for the tourists Tuesday. The Wajsbaums and Daskal died from burns and blunt force trauma. Fastag died from burns and Lichtenstein died from head injuries.

The Mohave County, Ariz., medical examiner's office ruled the cause of death for Innocenti was from burns.

"The extent of injury was very extensive," said Steve Johnson, a Mohave County Sheriff's office spokesman. "He died from the fire as opposed to, say, blunt force from the impact of the helicopter."

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash and has moved the remains of the helicopter to Boulder City to inspect the wreckage. Three NTSB investigators are going over the wreckage, checking maintenance records and combing the crash site, NTSB spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi said.

She said the investigation could take a year to 18 months before a cause is determined.

Papillon has been flying tours over the Grand Canyon since 1965 and has about 16 pilots in Las Vegas with more in two locations along the Grand Canyon, said Robert Graff, vice president of marketing for Papillon.

He said the company has flown more that 4 million people for their tours.