Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Wednesday, June 18, 1986 9:33 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AT ABOUT 0933 MST, DEHAVILLAND DHC-6, N76GC, (OWNED & OPERATED BY CANYON AIRLINES) & BELL 206B, N6TC, (OPERATED BY HELITECK) COLLIDED WHILE ON SIGHTSEEING FLTS OVER THE GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK. AFTER COLLIDING IN FLT, BOTH ACFT CRASHED & BURNED IN THE TONTO PLATEAU/CRYSTAL RAPIDS AREA. DRG THE INV, NO REASON WAS FND TO EXPLAIN WHY NEITHER FLT CREW WAS ABLE TO SEE & AVOID THE OTHER ACFT. THE ACDNT OCCURRED IN AN AREA WHERE THE DHC-6 MAY HAVE BEEN IN A TURN. THE BELL 206B WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH AN INTERCOM OR PUBLIC ADDRESS SYS TO COMMUNICATE WITH PASSENGERS; THUS, THE PLT MAY HAVEPERIODICALLY TURNED HIS HEAD DRG FLT TO NARRATE THE TOUR. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE FAA FAILED TO EXERCISE ITS OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBILITY OVR FLT OPNS IN THE GRAND CANYON AIRSPACE & THAT THE NATIONAL PARK SVC INFLUENCED THE SELECTION OF ROUTESBY THE SCENIC OPERATORS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE MODIFICATION & CONFIGURATION OF THE ROTARY-WING ROUTES RESULTED IN THEIR INTERSECTING WITH THE ROUTES OF GRAND CANYON AIRLINES NEAR CRYSTAL RAPIDS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/18/1986 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 933 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | GRAND CANYON |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | |
| Event Date Year | 1986 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 958 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GCN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6000 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 25 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 25 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1689 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 18 1986 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 31192 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 4:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N76GC | N6TC |
| NTSB Number | DCA86AA028A | DCA86AA028B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-6-300 | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DHC-6-300 | 206B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 248 | 3114 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 | 3200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 21 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 30569 | 608 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GRAND CANYON AIRLINES | SIX TC CORP. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | GRAND CANYON A2 | |
| Aircraft Owner City | ||
| Aircraft Owner State | ||
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | ||
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | GRAND CANYON HELICOPTER | HELITECH INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | ||
| Operator City | TUSCON | GRAND CAYON |
| Operator State | AZ | AZ |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | ||
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GCN | |
| Departure City | GRAND CANYON | TUSAYAN |
| Departure State | AZ | AZ |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 0 | 913 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ||
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 22 2001 3:51PM | Aug 22 2001 3:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |