What Caused the Papillon Airways Grand Canyon Helicopter Crash?

An EC-130 helicopter operated by Papillon Airways, a tour company, crashed and exploded in flames in the Grand Canyon on Saturday. Three people were killed and another four were critically injured. The passengers boarded the helicopter in Boulder City, Nevada, near Las Vegas, to fly to the western end of the Grand Canyon. It is unclear at this point what caused the crash. The helicopter involved had made several trips out to the canyon earlier that day. The company seems to have flown the same oblong route on each flight. The helo would take off from the airport and then fly northeast for a bit, turn east to the canyon, and then head south and then back to the west for the return trip to the Papillon Airways home base. One oddity that occurred on the trip immediately before the fatal flight was that the helicopter abruptly turned around on the eastern (outbound) leg of the trip and returned home without touring the canyon. Right now, there is no indication of why this occurred.…

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