Tour helicopter crashes near Las Vegas, killing 5

Tour helicopter crashes near Las Vegas, killing 5

2011-12-08 22:00:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA (BNO NEWS) -- Five people were killed on late Wednesday afternoon when a tour helicopter crashed near the Lake Mead reservoir in Nevada, federal officials said on early Thursday. There were no survivors.

The Eurocopter AS350 helicopter, which was manufactured in 1989, went down at around 4.45 p.m. local time near the Callville Bay Resort & Marina, about 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) east of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Sundance Helicopters, which operates helicopter services in the Southwestern United States, confirmed that one of its aircraft had crashed while on a sightseeing tour. "Emergency personnel on the scene reported that there were no survivors," the company said in a statement. "Names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of the next of kin."

According to police, the fatalities include four tourist passengers and the pilot of the aircraft. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Ian Gregor said the aircraft was on an air tour flight from McCarran International Airport to the Hoover Dam and back.

Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the cause of the accident.

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