Three victims of helicopter crash identified

By Aida Ahmed, Gregan Wingert

Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 | 5:10 p.m.

Clark County officials have identified three of the victims of Wednesday's helicopter crash near Lake Mead in which five people died.

According to the Clark County Coroner’s office, the pilot has been identified as Landon Nield, 31, of Las Vegas. Also on the flight were Tamara and Delwin Chapman, both 49, of Utica, Kan. The cause of death is blunt force trauma and thermal injuries.

The coroner’s office has yet to identify the remaining two victims.

The accident occurred shortly before 5 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 7, when the helicopter crashed into a mountain between Lake Mead and Henderson, killing the five people on board. Authorities called off recovery efforts about 7 p.m. Wednesday because of the danger of accessing the rugged terrain in the dark. Officers at the crash site said the wreckage was on fire and the helicopter was not intact, according to a spokesman for the National Park Service.

The helicopter was on a flight from McCarran International Airport to the Hoover Dam when it crashed, officials said. It was traveling a normal route taken by tour helicopters.

Federal Aviation Administration officials say the helicopter was a Eurocopter AS350, built in 1989, with tail number N37SH.

The aircraft is owned by Sundance Helicopters, a company based in Las Vegas. Sundance has a history of repeated aviation violations, according to the AP. A Sundance pilot and six passengers were killed in a September 2003 helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon West Airport.

A helicopter traveling from the Grand Canyon in August of 2009 with six passengers made an unexpected landing at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area when the aircraft was experiencing electrical problems, according to the AP. No injuries were reported.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation team, led by Bill English, will work to examine the helicopter wreckage at the crash site. Mark Rosekind, a member of the NTSB, said Thursday that because of the terrain, investigators are not able to easily remove items from the scene. Pieces of the wreckage may be airlifted out of the canyon or removed by off-road vehicles for further analysis.

Investigators will assess the helicopter's operations, its airworthiness and its maintenance as well as human factors that might have contributed to the crash, Rosekind said.

Witnesses will also be interviewed, he said. Currently the NTSB has two confirmed witnesses and investigators think more people who either heard or saw the crash will come forward.

A preliminary report of the crash is expected to be released this month. A full report of the crash and its cause could take nine months to a year.