Lisa LaPlante/Boulder City via AP
This image provided by Boulder City communications manager Lisa LaPlante shows a Grand Canyon tour helicopter after a Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, crash described as a “hard landing” at Boulder City Municipal Airport.
Published Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022 | 9:45 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022 | 1:06 p.m.
Seven people were injured when a tour helicopter made a hard landing late Tuesday afternoon at the Boulder City Municipal Airport, city officials said.
The pilot and six passengers were taken to two Las Vegas-area hospitals for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries, officials said.
The helicopter was returning from a trip to the Grand Canyon when the incident occurred, officials said. No reason was given for the mishap.
The National Transportation Safety Board was contacted and will handle the investigation, officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration, which characterized the incident as a crash while landing, said it also was investigating.
A photo posted on Facebook showed the red helicopter upright in a flat desert area. There were no reports of a fire.
The NTSB identified the operator of the Airbus Helicopters EC130 T2 as Las Vegas-based Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter air tours. Papillon representatives did not immediately respond Wednesday to a telephone message.
FlightAware, an air traffic database, reported that the 25-minute flight originated at the Grand Canyon near Kingman, Ariz., and was headed for the Boulder City airport.
NTSB spokesperson Peter Knudson said a preliminary report should be available within about three weeks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
