Problems not found so far on crashed chopper

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

NTSB

Anyone with information about previous flights of the Sundance helicopter or who was a passenger in previous flights with the pilot aboard the craft involved in the accident or with photographic or videotaped footage from a previous flight is asked to contact the NTSB at (310) 380-5654.

Federal investigators found no mechanical problems with the engine or other instruments in the crash of a sightseeing helicopter in the Grand Canyon that killed seven people in September, a report released Wednesday said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it has not ruled out mechanical failure or pilot error as the cause of the crash.

Federal investigators are examining pumps, cockpit panels, flight controls and other material in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

Investigators are requesting interviews with sightseers who took tours with Sundance Helicopters, the Las Vegas-based owner of the helicopter which crashed, on the day of the crash. There were no recorders on the downed aircraft, so videos or photos of earlier flights and people who had flown with the pilot killed in the crash could offer detailed clues, the report said.

So far, seven passengers have been located and interviewed, four who had flown with the pilot on the flight before the accident and three on another Sundance flight the same day as the accident, the report said.

Crews investigating the accident have also received digital still photographs from the accident flight and earlier flights.

The helicopter was heading from the Grand Canyon's rim to the Colorado River's shoreline on Sept. 20 when a rotor blade struck a nearly vertical canyon wall, the NTSB said. The wreckage scattered about 200 yards farther down the canyon.

Pilot Takashi Mezaki, 45, of California and the craft's six passengers died from blunt force trauma and burns, medical examiners said.

The passengers were identified as Dr. Joseph Hanna, 52, and his wife, Nouhad, of Huntington, W.Va.; Masami Kato, 24, and Makiko Hatano, 23, both of Japan; and Julia Hueyng, 33, and Wolf-Dieter Mueller, 46, both of Germany.

The NTSB is also trying to define the flight's path and build an aerodynamic profile of the accident flight.

In an earlier report, NTSB crews investigating the accident said the helicopter crashed two-thirds of the way down the canyon and flames destroyed it on impact.