Federal aviation notice warned of slackline before deadly helicopter crash in Arizona

Key Highlights

• Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will be combing through the wreckage over the coming weeks as they try to determine what led up to the Jan.
• 2 crash. The case is making ripples through the aviation world, with safety experts unaware of any other helicopter crashes that have involved a slackline. Power lines and unmarked cables are a perpetual concern for helicopter pilots because they are inherently difficult to see without markers, lighting or other infrastructure like power poles, said Tom Anthony, director of the Aviation Safety and Security Program at the University of Southern California.
• He said it's important for pilots to review Notices to Airmen, or NOTAMs, while planning their flights.
• Under FAA regulations, that means checking for any notices that might be issued along an entire flight path, not just where a flight departs or lands.
• The Federal Aviation Administration says pilots also should review notices within 25 nautical miles (46 kilometers) of their flight path to be safe.