LAS VEGAS, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Nation Transportation Safety Board sent a special investigation unit to the tour helicopter crash site near Lake Mead in Nevada Thursday.
The 12-member team is a group of specialists from the NTSB headquarters in Washington, the Las Vegas Sun reported Thursday.
The helicopter crashed into a mountainside between Lake Mead and Henderson, Nev., Wednesday, killing the pilot and four passengers on board. The recovery effort was called off at 7 p.m. Wednesday because of the danger of accessing the rough terrain in the dark.
The passengers were believed to be on an air tour of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead operated by Sundance Tours, the Los Angeles Times reported. The helicopter took off from Las Vegas and crashed in the River Mountains about 5 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter was a Eurocopter AS350.
"Sundance Helicopters regrets to report that a Sundance helicopter with five people on board went down 16 miles east of Las Vegas at approximately 4:45 p.m. this evening. Emergency personal at the scene report that there were no survivors. Names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. Sundance is cooperating fully with the FAA and NTSB in the investigation," the company said in a statement released Wednesday.
