Groom and his three young nieces killed just hours before wedding after helicopter crashes in Arizona mountains
David McCarty, 59, was taking his nieces for a ride in the private aircraft before he was due to say 'I do' on Friday when the helicopter his a slackline, investigators said.
Four members of the same family including a groom who was about to be married in a matter of hours have been killed in a helicopter crash in Arizona.
Pilot David McCarty, 59, had taken his three nieces out for a ride in the private aircraft on Friday just moments before he was due to say 'I do' to fiancée Joelleen Linstrom.
McCarty died along with Rachel McCarty, 22, Faith McCarty, 21, and Katelyn Heideman, 21, when the helicopter went down at around 11am in the rugged terrain of Telegraph Canyon, roughly 64 miles east of Phoenix.
The crash appears to have occurred after the aircraft struck a recreational slackline strung across the mountains.
Investigators say the line stretched more than half a mile across the canyon.
'An eyewitness who called 911 reported seeing the helicopter strike a portion of the line before falling to the bottom of the canyon,' the sheriff's office said in a statement.
McCarty was due to tie the knot with Linstrom but had taken his nieces for a ride ahead of the ceremony, family said.
Pilot and groom David McCarty, 59, was among four members killed in a horror helicopter crash on his wedding day. He died hours before he was to marry Joelleen Linstrom, pictured
Katelyn Heideman, 21, was killed in the crash alongside her uncle and two cousins when the helicopter went down in the rugged mountains east of Phoenix
The couple got engaged in September last year, according to their social media profiles.
A heartbroken Linstrom posted a photo of McCarty fishing in tribute following the deadly crash.
Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the NTSB, said in an email that the helicopter 'impacted wires and terrain under unknown circumstances,' adding that investigators are working to determine how the slackline came to be placed across the flight path and whether it was visible to pilots.
No highliners were present at the time of the collision. The International Slackline Association (ISA) said the highline had aviation markers attached to it and that the FAA had been informed with a NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) having been issued before the collision barring pilots from flying nearby.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
According to investigators, one of the helicopter's rotor blades may have separated after striking the line, causing the aircraft to overturn before slamming falling to the bottom of the canyon.
Due to the extreme terrain and isolation of the crash site, deputies and search-and-rescue teams were unable to reach the wreckage for several hours.
The helicopter was identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as an MD 369FF.
It had taken off earlier that morning from an airport in Queen Creek, a Phoenix suburb where McCarty also owned a home.