Five people, including SGA CEO, killed in Arizona helicopter crash

(Eds: Raises death toll from 3 to 5, confirms SGA CEO died.)

CAVE CREEK, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — Five people were killed when their privately-owned helicopter crashed in the Arizona town of Cave Creek on Sunday, the company the helicopter belonged to said on Monday.

The Eurocopter EC135 helicopter crashed under unknown circumstances around 2 p.m. PST near 73rd Street and Highland Avenue in Cave Creek, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Ian Gregor. The helicopter caught fire after the crash.

Gregor initially said that three people, two adults and one child, had been killed. On Monday, however, Services Group of America (SGA) said a total of five passengers were aboard when the aircraft crashed.

SGA also said that its Chairman & CEO Thomas J. Stewart, 64, had died in the crash. “The company helicopter was en route to Scottsdale Air Park from the Flagstaff area when it crashed in a desert wash,” it said in a statement.

“Tom was first and foremost a visionary,” said Peter K. Smith, president and COO of SGA. “He had a clear and concise continuity plan for the enterprise in place and was completely confident in the current leadership team.” The names of the other casualties were not immediately released.

FAA investigators and an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is on scene to investigate the cause of the crash.

Cave Creek is a small town in Maricopa County, north of the Phoenix metro area.

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