David McCarty: Groom and three nieces die in horror chopper crash the day of his wedding

A groom has tragically died alongside his three nieces in a horrific chopper crash on the day of his wedding.

David McCarty, 59, was just hours away from saying ‘I do’ when the helicopter he was piloting for a sightseeing tour over the Telegraph Canyon in Arizona hit a recreational slackline that had been strung across the canyon.

The impact caused the MD 369FF helicopter to plummet to the ground about 11am on January 2.

Emergency crews were forced to trek to the crash site given the rough terrain, reaching the wreckage about 5pm.

Oregon-based Mr McCarty and his nieces Rachel, 23, Faith, 21, and their cousin Katelyn Heideman, 22, were all pronounced dead later that evening, according to local police.

“Preliminary evidence indicates a recreational slackline more than one kilometre long had been strung across the mountain range. An eyewitness who called 911 reported seeing the helicopter strike a portion of the line before falling to the bottom of the canyon,” a Pinal County police statement reads.

Mr McCarty, an experienced pilot who founded Columbia Basin Helicopters in the 1990s, was set to marry fiancee Joelleen Linstrom, but had first taken his nieces for a sightseeing tour in his helicopter.

Mary Jane Heideman, Katelyn mother and Rachel and Faith’s aunt, told The Arizona Republic that the loss of her family members was devastating.

“They were all so loved. The girls had such bright futures. It’s just hard to fathom this.”

One family member said he “just wanted to show his family around”, the US Sun reports.

Another said, “The families lost 50 per cent of their children on the wedding day, which was supposed to be a celebration”.

“It’s extremely tough.”

Slacklining is where participants balance and walk across a narrow length of nylon/polyester webbing between two anchor points.

Where it is strung across a high point, practitioners most often use a harness or leash to prevent falling to the ground.

The slackline across the Telegraph Canyon had aviation markers attached and a Notice to Air Missions warning pilots of the obstruction had been filed for a line 180 metres above the ground, according to the International Slackline Association.

In a statement on the tragedy, the association noted “no highliners were on the line at the moment of the incident”.

“We extend out deepest sympathy and condolences to all those affected by this tragedy.”

An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash is underway.