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Plane CrashesVersion 2

Four Killed in Helicopter Accident Near Superior, Arizona

An accident record lists four people on board and four fatalities in the January 2 accident; the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 10:59 a.m. ET
people aboard a helicopter were killed in an accident near Superior, Arizona, at about 6:00 p.m. local time on January 2, 2026, according to the accident record. The record lists souls on board and fatalities. The event is developing and details may change. The accident record identifies the aircraft as an , registration , operated by , and classifies the flight as a Part 91 general aviation flight. The record states the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Aircraft registry records list as an MD Helicopters MD 530F registered in the United States. Geographic reference data places Superior in Pinal County, Arizona, at a settlement elevation of 2,848 feet, 2.1 miles west-southwest of Superior Municipal Airport (E81), 20 miles south-southeast of Kearny Airport (KE67) and 22 miles southwest of the Florence Military Reservation Airstrip. That reference locates the town, not the accident site. Weather observed at Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA), 32.3 miles away and 12 minutes from the reported time, recorded calm wind, visibility of 10 statute miles, clear skies and 66°F. The observation is an instrument reading at a nearby field and is not a statement about what happened. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The cause has not been determined.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N3502P
Type
MD Helicopters MD 530F
Terrain elevation
2,848 ft
Nearest aerodrome
2.1 miles ENE of Superior Municipal Airport (E81)

Sources

No sources recorded.

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 14:59current

    Corrected the bearings between Superior and the three nearby aerodromes to match the geographic reference data, clarified that the elevation figure is for the settlement rather than the accident site, and split the weather observation into its own paragraph.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 18:52

    First published.

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