Helicopter carrying 7 people crashes near the Grand Canyon

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By BNO NEWS

A tour helicopter carrying seven people has crashed near the Grand Canyon in Arizona, killing multiple people, local and federal officials say. Only few details were immediately available.

The accident happened at about 5:30 p.m. MT on Saturday when the Eurocopter EC130, which was reportedly on a tour, went down at the Grand Canyon National Park. A total of seven people are believed to have been on board the helicopter.

“The aircraft sustained substantial damage,” said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It was not immediately known who was on board the helicopter or which company was operating it.

Local emergency services said multiple people were killed and others are unaccounted-for.

The cause of Saturday’s accident was not immediately known. Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the circumstances of Saturday’s accident, Kenitzer said.

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