Helicopter Sold as Salvage Before Crash

A helicopter that crashed during a sightseeing tour of the Grand Canyon last August, killing six people and critically injuring a tourist, was once sold as salvage material and certified as airworthy days before the crash, court and federal records show.

The helicopter was salvaged in Japan after being damaged in a hard landing in 2000, according to court documents obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

It was rebuilt in New Zealand, shipped to Las Vegas and reassembled and certified as airworthy by the Federal Aviation Administration eight days before the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a final report this summer on the crash of the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters tour.