Slackline causes helicopter crash and 4 deaths

Josh Janes wrote:

The coordinate system used in NOTAMs is degrees/minutes/seconds - not decimal degrees. What you looked up (33.1412, -111.0714) is not the same as "331412N1110714W" as written in the NOTAM. Try looking up 33° 14' 12" N, 111° 07' 14" W and you'll see the location of the circle in Foreflight is correct.

OK, thanks for the explanation.

Josh Janes wrote:

As I previously said, I predict the NTSB will attribute the cause of this accident to failure of the pilot to check/read/observe the NOTAM - along with a list of contributing factors or secondary causes.

There's a photo from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office that shows the ridge and slackline (no wreckage shown). The IPhone 13's meta data is still in the picture and the GPS is listed as

GPS Altitude: 856 m Above Sea Level

GPS Date/Time: 2026:01:02 22:44:57Z

GPS Latitude: 33 deg 14' 18.27" N

GPS Longitude: 111 deg 7' 12.77" W

The picture is taken at 2808 feet and so the slack line is probably around ~3200 feet based on the topo map of the ridge.

If the pilot checks the NOTAMs before flight and sees there is an obstruction at 2800 feet but his flight plan is at 3200 feet, isn't reasonable for him to assume there is no danger to him?

dino74 wrote:

There's a photo from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office that shows the ridge and slackline (no wreckage shown). The IPhone 13's meta data is still in the picture and the GPS is listed as

GPS Altitude: 856 m Above Sea Level

GPS Date/Time: 2026:01:02 22:44:57Z

GPS Latitude: 33 deg 14' 18.27" N

GPS Longitude: 111 deg 7' 12.77" W

The picture is taken at 2808 feet and so the slack line is probably around ~3200 feet based on the topo map of the ridge.

If the pilot checks the NOTAMs before flight and sees there is an obstruction at 2800 feet but his flight plan is at 3200 feet, isn't reasonable for him to assume there is no danger to him?

Uploading this photo to MP - 

https://opb.org/article/2026/01/06/fatal-helicopter-crash-criticism-slackline-federal-warning/

This is quite a tragedy. There seems to be a lot of discussion around the NOTAM and no real regulations for slacklines.  It seems to me that 14 CFR part 77 applies to these longlines.  This looks like a much more rigorous process to get approval. 

Josh, my friend you are doing a great job helping us understand helicopters.

Below is a link to a YouTube accident analysis.
https://youtu.be/3kMKAO_CLVQ?si=HBTXzj5edlkSPx2x

This is what probably the aviation community is thinking.

So sorry this happened

Praying for the families of everyone involved.  

Hoping common sense prevails and slack lines will be set up between trees in the back yard, where they belong.  

Stringing a tight rope across the canyon for recreation…. Yeah boy that is silly.  We don't need more regulation, we need people to make reasonably good decisions about things to do for fun.  

That's some strong webbing! 

Carolina wrote:

Praying for the families of everyone involved.  

Hoping common sense prevails and slack lines will be set up between trees in the back yard, where they belong.  

Stringing a tight rope across the canyon for recreation…. Yeah boy that is silly.  We don't need more regulation, we need people to make reasonably good decisions about things to do for fun.  

Climbing rocks is silly. Stay home and we won't need SAR to risk their lives saving you.

Brian Wht wrote:

Below is a link to a YouTube accident analysis.
https://youtu.be/3kMKAO_CLVQ?si=HBTXzj5edlkSPx2x

This is what probably the aviation community is thinking.

So sorry this happened

The comment thread is surprisingly and refreshingly nonjudgmental about slack lines in general. There are a lot of good people there who want the real problems (NOTAMs, education, better standards around marking) to be addressed.

This has almost happened before. HowNot2 almost had the same thing happen to them in 2022. Check out 29:02 in the linked video to see a near miss of a helicopter flying close to their line.

I believe they submitted the local equivalent of a NOTAM, but ignoring NOTAMs is a problem in aviation around the world.

It may fall upon highliners to be more diligent in increasing the visibility of their lines. Not assigning blame, just trying to prevent future accidents.

https://youtu.be/FReOOx0HU88?si=3SgyffxDgDxL-W09&t=1742

Anthony Altemara wrote:

Climbing rocks is silly. Stay home and we won't need SAR to risk their lives saving you.

With all due respect, if you need SAR to go climb rocks then you likely shouldn’t be climbing.  Far better to stay within limits or self rescue in the event of trouble.  When seconds count, help is just minutes away.  

Tim K wrote:

Im praying for you.

Thank you.

P B wrote:

I believe they submitted the local equivalent of a NOTAM, but ignoring NOTAMs is a problem in aviation around the world.

A recurring theme in this thread is a basic failure of NOTAMs - the issue (as it appears to me as a non-pilot) is that they're airport specific and thus easy to miss.

Marc801 C wrote:

A recurring theme in this thread is a basic failure of NOTAMs - the issue (as it appears to me as a non-pilot) is that they're airport specific and thus easy to miss.

Since I am not an aviator, I am totally baffled how the Aviator in the video was able to show ALL relevant NOTAMs just but turning on the NOTAM layer in his navigation app. He then complained that NOTAM was NOT assigned to NOT THE CLOSEST airport to the obstacle. 

Let me repeat this - he was able to see all the relevant NOTAMS by using his app, and then he complained that seeing relevant NOTAMs was difficult when he chose airport not closest to the obstacle.

BTW - NOTAM dbase allows searches based on GPS location and the radius of interest.

P B wrote:

This has almost happened before. HowNot2 almost had the same thing happen to them in 2022. Check out 29:02 in the linked video to see a near miss of a helicopter flying close to their line.

I believe they submitted the local equivalent of a NOTAM, but ignoring NOTAMs is a problem in aviation around the world.

It may fall upon highliners to be more diligent in increasing the visibility of their lines. Not assigning blame, just trying to prevent future accidents.

https://youtu.be/FReOOx0HU88?si=3SgyffxDgDxL-W09&t=1742

that highline seems poorly marked and not very visible.

Guy pointed out another similar case from a few years ago here   mountainproject.com/forum/t…

Tightrope use across chasms predates the American Civil War; predates the Wright brothers.  The same language used to enshrine climbing as a legitimate and traditional use of public lands could probably be applied to tightropes, highlines, et cetera.

To see calls for it to be banned, that troubles me.

Make no mistake - there's no shortage of people who'd like to, no, absolutely love to see rock climbing banned as well, and will be on board if somebody starts lobbying for such prohibitions.  It's just the nature of our present society.  Rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, bouldering, you name it, and they'll spin up the machinations about why it should no longer be.

Abovementioned aside, it's always competition for limited resources.  The highliners sought out this terrain for challenge, and perhaps this very scenery for their enjoyment - as did the helicopter pilot.  Years ago, we got away with things primarily because of lack of density; and today, where notifications/observations of other uses go unnoticed, I think we get away with a lot of things by dumb luck.

Learning to live in an ever more crowded world is something we need to get better at.  For all of our sakes.

Jason EL wrote:

Tightrope use across chasms predates the American Civil War; predates the Wright brothers.  The same language used to enshrine climbing as a legitimate and traditional use of public lands could probably be applied to tightropes, highlines, et cetera.

To see calls for it to be banned, that troubles me.

Make no mistake - there's no shortage of people who'd like to, no, absolutely love to see rock climbing banned as well, and will be on board if somebody starts lobbying for such prohibitions.  It's just the nature of our present society.  Rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, bouldering, you name it, and they'll spin up the machinations about why it should no longer be.

Abovementioned aside, it's always competition for limited resources.  The highliners sought out this terrain for challenge, and perhaps this very scenery for their enjoyment - as did the helicopter pilot.  Years ago, we got away with things primarily because of lack of density; and today, where notifications/observations of other uses go unnoticed, I think we get away with a lot of things by dumb luck.

Learning to live in an ever more crowded world is something we need to get better at.  For all of our sakes.

That is such a grim view, yet so true… Thanks for sharing.

Jason EL wrote:

Tightrope use across chasms predates the American Civil War; predates the Wright brothers.  The same language used to enshrine climbing as a legitimate and traditional use of public lands could probably be applied to tightropes, highlines, et cetera.

To see calls for it to be banned, that troubles me.

Make no mistake - there's no shortage of people who'd like to, no, absolutely love to see rock climbing banned as well, and will be on board if somebody starts lobbying for such prohibitions.  It's just the nature of our present society.  Rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, bouldering, you name it, and they'll spin up the machinations about why it should no longer be.

Abovementioned aside, it's always competition for limited resources.  The highliners sought out this terrain for challenge, and perhaps this very scenery for their enjoyment - as did the helicopter pilot.  Years ago, we got away with things primarily because of lack of density; and today, where notifications/observations of other uses go unnoticed, I think we get away with a lot of things by dumb luck.

Learning to live in an ever more crowded world is something we need to get better at.  For all of our sakes.

is the EL in your handle for ELoquent? 'Cause dang brother.
Thank you for that.

Our current society is hooked on punishment. Someone must pay. We want a hanging in the town square.  Heck the don't tread on me red hats certainly went from don't tread on me to comply or die faster than you can blink..