A sightseeing helicopter piloted by an Oregon businessman slammed into a slackline just hours before he was set to be married — killing him and three nieces in a gut-wrenching New Year tragedy.
David McCarty, 59, was flying his relatives in his private MD 369FF helicopter through remote Telegraph Canyon near Superior, Ariz., just east of Phoenix around 11 a.m. Friday when the aircraft struck a recreational highline strung across the mountains, authorities said.
“He just wanted to show his family around,” a relative told FOX 10 Phoenix.
The impact sent the helicopter plunging to the canyon floor, killing everyone on board.
David McCarty, 59, was killed just before his wedding to Joelleen Linstrom.
McCarty, the owner of Columbia Basin Helicopters, died alongside his nieces Rachel McCarty, 23, Faith McCarty, 21, and Katelyn Heideman, 22.
The four were from Oregon and were in Arizona for what was meant to be a celebratory family weekend, according to the East Oregonian.
The crash happened just hours before McCarty was scheduled to marry his fiancée, Joelleen Linstrom.
The helicopter, which departed from Pegasus Airpark in Queen Creek, struck the slackline mid-flight just south of Superior, the Arizona Republic reported.
A witness reported seeing the rotor blades shear off before the aircraft dropped into the rugged canyon terrain below.
Rachel McCarty, 23, died alongside her sister, cousin and uncle when their helicopter plunged into an Arizona canyon.
Rachel McCarty/Facebook
Search-and-rescue crews were forced to hike into the area because of its remote location. Deputies reached the wreckage around 5 p.m., and all four victims were pronounced dead later that evening, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said.
McCarty was an experienced pilot who had flown the canyon many times before without incident, relatives told reporters.
He founded Columbia Basin Helicopters in the mid-to-late 1990s and built a business specializing in power-line construction, logging, firefighting and aircraft recovery.
Faith McCarty, 21, was also among the victims of the helicopter crash.
The company is based in La Grande, Ore., with a satellite operation in Queen Creek, Ariz., where McCarty also maintained a home. Family members said he owned multiple helicopters and was deeply familiar with the area’s terrain.
Rachel and Faith McCarty were sisters. Katelyn Heideman was their cousin and also McCarty’s niece. All three young women were described by relatives as close-knit and deeply connected to their small Oregon communities.
“The families lost 50% of their children on the wedding day, which was supposed to be a celebration,” a family member said. “It’s extremely tough.”
Katelyn Heideman, 22, has been identified as one of four fatalities.
Katelyn Heideman/Facebook
Mary Jane Heideman, Katelyn’s mother, said the loss was overwhelming.
“They were all so loved. The girls had such bright futures. It’s just hard to fathom this,” she said.
Another niece, Elizabeth Gallup, wrote in a public message that the family was struggling to process the sudden loss of four loved ones who “never got the chance to come home.”
Federal investigators are examining how a slackline — more than half a mile long — came to be stretched across an active flight area.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating alongside the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. An NTSB investigator was expected to arrive at the site the following day, with the wreckage to be transported to a secure facility for analysis.
Preliminary information indicates the line had aviation markers attached.
The International Slackline Association said the FAA had been notified of the highline and that a Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, had been issued warning pilots of a flagged and lighted rope obstruction about 600 feet above ground level.
