4 dead after helicopter appears to strike recreational slackline in Arizona
The line was longer than a kilometer, or more than half a mile, stretching between the mountains near Superior, Arizona, according to officials.
Four people died in a helicopter crash in Arizona on Friday. The aircraft hit a long “recreational slackline” that was spread across a mountain range, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said they got a call around 11 a.m. about a helicopter crash near Telegraph Canyon, which is south of the town of Superior.
Four family members were killed in the crash, including the 59-year-old pilot, a 22-year-old woman, and two 21-year-old women, the sheriff’s office said.
In an update on Friday afternoon, the sheriff’s office mentioned that “preliminary evidence indicates a recreational slackline more than one kilometer long had been strung across the mountain range.”
An eyewitness who called 911 said they saw the helicopter hit part of the line before it fell to the bottom of the canyon, according to the office.
Recreational slacklining involves balancing or doing tricks on a narrow webbing that is tied between two points, like trees, as explained by the International Slackline Association.
The sheriff’s office didn’t give more details about why the line was there or if it was set up with permission.
A spokesperson for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to an email request for more information later on Friday.
The helicopter had taken off from Pegasus Airpark in Queen Creek, which is about 30 miles west of Superior, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter was an MD 369FF.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
Superior is a town with a population of around 2,400, located in a mountainous area about 55 miles east of Phoenix.
