On a typical visit, the Grand Canyon is chance to one of the most beautiful sights you will ever set your eyes on. It also happens to be one incredibly peaceful place and the last place you would ever think one of the state’s deadliest disasters to occur.

Unfortunately, that’s just what happened on June 18, 1986.

Among the ways people tend to tour the Grand Canyon, there’s something particularly thrilling about seeing it from a bird’s perspective. Flights by helicopter and small aircraft have been popular for years but some changes came about after a deadly crash occurred when two tour aircraft collided in mid-air.
Nathan Rupert/Flickr
The collision occurred between two aircraft: a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and a Bell 206 helicopter on the morning of June 18, 1986.
Tribalninja/Wikimedia Commons

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The collision took place right around Crystal Rapid, an area on the Colorado River within viewing distance of Grand Canyon Village. All 25 people, most of whom were international tourists, aboard the helicopter and plane died as a result of the crash. Additionally, this became the deadliest crash in the United States involving a helicopter.
Alan English CPA/Flickr
There was little flight data that existed to accurately determine how the crash occurred (the FAA did not require such information for flying tours) but an accident report by the National Transportation Safety Board suggested the flight crews failed to "see and avoid" each other.
Raimond Spekking/Wikimedia Commons
Following the investigation, changes were made to make flights in and around the Grand Canyon safer by monitoring flights more closely. However, 27 additional crashes have occurred within the Grand Canyon in the three decades since, resulting in more than 60 deaths.
Daniel Coomber/Flickr

The Grand Canyon was actually the site of another deadly plane crash back in 1956. At the time, it was one of the largest commercial airline crashes in the country. You can read more about the incident that killed 128 people in One Of The Worst Disasters In U.S. History Happened Right Here In Arizona.

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