He said healing from the psychological wounds was the hardest. Since then, both of Booth's legs have been amputated, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal for a story published last January.
Others were covering him with blankets and jackets, he said. Another pilot used a tourniquet on Booth's leg. Next thing he knew, he was up on a ledge, and his pants were on fire. Most days, the weather was calm and the flights routine, he said.Īs Booth approached the canyon, he took note that other parked helicopters were pointing different directions and saw a windsock “waving like a waffle.” He slowed down to land and was hit hard by the wind, manoeuvring to try to gain control, he said. He had flown passengers into the Grand Canyon and landed in the gorge nearly 600 times. The British tourists boarded the helicopter earlier that day in Boulder City near Las Vegas as part of a trip to celebrate Stuart Hill's birthday and the Udalls as newlyweds.īooth had worked for the air tour company Papillon since June 2013, most recently part-time. They were screaming for their loved ones, pilots said. Witnesses saw two women emerge from the flaming wreckage, dazed, burned and bleeding and in shock. Some people ran toward the flames to help, against the pilots' advice to stay close to picnic tables. Witnesses who included other pilots, passengers and a wedding party in the canyon saw smoke and heard screams after the helicopter crashed. The investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed a chaotic attempt to render aid. Representatives for the Hualapai Tribe, Papillon and Airbus did not immediately comment when reached Thursday. “The Udall family from the beginning has wanted to find out what happened so this can prevent other helicopter victims from literally being burned alive,” he said. Robb, called the NTSB investigation thorough and well-researched. They also suffered severe burns but survived.Īn attorney for Jonathan Udall, Gary C.
Two others in their group - 31-year-old Jonathan Udall and 29-year-old Ellie Milward Udall - later died from burn injuries.īooth fractured his lower left leg, and passenger Jennifer Barham had a spinal fracture. Three of the British tourists on board were pronounced dead at the scene: veterinary receptionist Becky Dobson, 27 her boyfriend and car salesman Stuart Hill, 30 and Hill's brother, 32-year-old lawyer Jason Hill. Witnesses saw the helicopter make at least two 360-degree turns before hitting the ground and bursting into flames. “It just took the aircraft from me,” he told investigators in an interview months after the crash. The pilot, Scott Booth, was attempting to land next to the Colorado River on the Hualapai reservation when the gust hit. The Airbus EC130 B4 crashed just before sunset in February 2018 in a section of the Grand Canyon where air tours aren't as highly regulated as in the national park. The report did not include any safety recommendations. The investigation found no evidence of mechanical problems with the helicopter. The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report Thursday that said tailwinds, potential downdrafts and turbulence were the probable cause of the loss of control and tail-rotor effectiveness. The pilot of a helicopter that crashed in the Grand Canyon in 2018, killing five British tourists, told investigators that he wasn't able to control the aircraft after a “violent gust of wind” sent it spinning, according to a new report.