Tour helicopter makes emergency landing on way to Grand Canyon

Monday, July 7, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

A Sundance Helicopters tour aircraft with seven people on board made an emergency landing Saturday after developing mechanical problems about 15 minutes outside Las Vegas, National Park Service officials said. No one was seriously hurt.

The helicopter had left Las Vegas about 5 p.m. en route to the Grand Canyon and experienced the unspecified mechanical problems after 15 minutes in the air, Park Service spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said.

"The pilot decided to divert the flight to the Temple Bar Airport on the Arizona side of Lake Mead," Dey said.

However, the pilot was unable to reach the airport and was forced to make a hard landing at Bonelli Landing, about 60 miles southeast of Hoover Dam, Dey said.

The tail rotor hit the ground first, then the helicopter landed on its side, Dey said.

One of the people on board was a doctor, Dey said. One woman was taken by Mercy Air helicopter to University Medical Center for treatment of a shoulder injury, but she was treated and released.

The other six people refused medical treatment.

Sundance Helicopters was founded in 1985 as Helicopter Service of Nevada. The name was changed to Sundance in 1993.

Sundance Helicopters offers tours of the Grand Canyon, the Las Vegas Strip and Lake Las Vegas from its base at McCarran International Airport.