While an investigation is ongoing, it does appear that the slackline was marked with streamers (in circle) to make it visible to passing aircraft.

A private helicopter crashed into a slackline in a mountainous region of southeast Arizona earlier this month, killing the pilot and all three passengers. The incident is among the first documented encounters between a manned aircraft and a slackline, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, and has prompted new conversations around safety as the sport grows more popular. 

Slacklining involves walking along a tightrope-like line made of polyester or nylon, sometimes spanning long distances. When such lines are rigged high above the ground, it’s known as highlining, and it was a highline that snagged the helicopter around 11 a.m. on Jan. 2. The line, which stretched across the mouth of Telegraph Canyon, roughly 60 miles east of Phoenix, was more than half a mile long and appeared in photos to be suspended several hundred feet above the ground. An eyewitness reported that they saw the helicopter “strike a portion of the line before falling to the bottom of the canyon,” according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. No people were using the highline at the time of the accident. 

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Officials spent hours hiking on foot to the crash site, where they confirmed the deaths of four individuals. The victims have since been identified by family as 59-year-old David McCarty, an experienced pilot from nearby Queen Creek, Arizona, and three of his nieces: Katelyn Heideman, Rachel McCarty and Faith McCarty, all in their early 20s. David McCarty was set to be married later in the day, according to KSAZ-TV, and had been flying his family around ahead of the........

© SFGate