Five people, including SGA CEO, killed in Arizona helicopter crash
February 16th, 2010 - 2:55 pm ICT by BNO NewsCAVE CREEK, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — Five people were killed when their privately-owned helicopter crashed in the Arizona town of Cave Creek on Sunday, the company the helicopter belonged to said on Monday.
The Eurocopter EC135 helicopter crashed under unknown circumstances around 2 p.m. PST near 73rd Street and Highland Avenue in Cave Creek, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Ian Gregor. The helicopter caught fire after the crash.
Gregor initially said that three people, two adults and one child, had been killed. On Monday, however, Services Group of America (SGA) said a total of five passengers were aboard when the aircraft crashed.
SGA also said that its Chairman & CEO Thomas J. Stewart, 64, had died in the crash. “The company helicopter was en route to Scottsdale Air Park from the Flagstaff area when it crashed in a desert wash,” it said in a statement.
“Tom was first and foremost a visionary,” said Peter K. Smith, president and COO of SGA. “He had a clear and concise continuity plan for the enterprise in place and was completely confident in the current leadership team.” The names of the other casualties were not immediately released.
FAA investigators and an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is on scene to investigate the cause of the crash.
Cave Creek is a small town in Maricopa County, north of the Phoenix metro area.
- FAA: Arizona chopper crash kills 3 in Cave Creek - Feb 15, 2010
- Small plane crashes in Buckeye, Arizona; no injuries - Apr 23, 2010
- Five die in Los Angeles-area plane crash - Mar 17, 2011
- Small plane crashes in southern California, kills one - Jul 28, 2010
- Six feared dead after small plane crashes into the Arizona mountains - Nov 24, 2011
- One dead in CHP plane crash near San Diego County-Imperial County border, CA - May 08, 2010
- Three die in helicopter crash near Doyle, California - Nov 15, 2009
- World War II-era plane crashes at Arizona airport - Mar 12, 2010
- Two die in Groveland, California small plane crash - Feb 20, 2010
- One dead after small plane crashes in Jefferson County, Indiana - Apr 20, 2010
- One dead in Los Angeles-area plane crash - Nov 15, 2009
- Small plane lands on southern California freeway, no injuries - Mar 25, 2010
- Two killed in US plane crash - May 10, 2010
- Small plane crashes after take-off in South Dakota, killing 4 - Dec 10, 2011
- Small plane crash kills two near New Albany, Indiana - May 03, 2010
Tags: arizona helicopter crash, arizona town, bno, cave creek arizona, chairman ceo, continuity plan, desert wash, eurocopter ec135, faa spokesman, federal aviation administration, flagstaff area, leadership team, maricopa county, national transportation safety, national transportation safety board, ntsb, peter k smith, phoenix metro area, smith president, transportation safety board