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Helicopter Sold as Salvage Before Crash

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From Associated Press

A helicopter that crashed during a sightseeing tour of the Grand Canyon last August, killing six people and critically injuring a tourist, was once sold as salvage material and certified as airworthy days before the crash, court and federal records show.

The helicopter was salvaged in Japan after being damaged in a hard landing in 2000, according to court documents obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

It was rebuilt in New Zealand, shipped to Las Vegas and reassembled and certified as airworthy by the Federal Aviation Administration eight days before the crash.

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The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a final report this summer on the crash of the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters tour.

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