A private MD 369FF helicopter crashed in a mountainous area near Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday, resulting in the deaths of all four people on board, reports Baltimore Chronicle via the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. The incident took place at approximately 11 a.m. local time and involved a helicopter operated from Pegasus Airpark in Queen Creek, Arizona. According to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, an eyewitness who contacted 911 reported that the helicopter struck part of a recreational slackline that had been set up across the mountain range before the aircraft fell to the canyon floor.
The four victims included a 59-year-old male pilot from Queen Creek and three female family members in their early 20s. Their identities have not been publicly released. The crash site is located in the mountains near Telegraph Canyon, south of Superior, Arizona, nearly 70 miles east of Phoenix.
Slacklining, the activity involved in the incident, is a form of balance sport that entails walking or balancing on a flat strip of webbing stretched between two anchor points, according to Slackline U.S. Authorities described the operation to access the remote site as challenging, with crews spending several hours navigating mountainous terrain to reach the wreckage.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched investigations into the crash. The FAA also issued a temporary flight restriction over the area to ensure a safe environment for ongoing search and rescue operations. Officials continue to gather information on the circumstances leading to the helicopter’s collision with the slackline and subsequent descent into the canyon.
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