PHOENIX (AP) — A tour helicopter carrying seven people on board crashed in the Grand Canyon, killing three people and injuring four others. 
 
 Six passengers and a pilot were on board the Papillion Grand Canyon Helicopters chopper when it crashed around 5:20 p.m. Saturday on the Hualapai Nation near Quartermaster Canyon, Hualapai Nation Police Chief Francis Bradley said. The four who were injured were level 1 trauma patients and were being treated at the scene. 
 
 An after-hours phone call and email to Papillion were not immediately returned Saturday. The company's website says it flies roughly 600,000 passengers a year on Grand Canyon and other tours. It also notes that it "abides by flight safety rules and regulations that substantially exceed the regulations required by the Federal Aviation Administration." 
 
 Longtime helicopter crash lawyer Gary C. Robb represented a woman badly burned in a deadly Papillion crash at the Grand Canyon in 2001. He said the company has made big improvements since that crash. 
 
 "They've improved their piloting qualifications as well as their maintenance over the last 10 years and as far as I know they've not had a crash since 2001," he said. He said flying in the Grand Canyon can be treacherous simply because of the number of helicopters there. 
 
 Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Eurocopter EC130 crashed in unknown circumstances and sustained heavy damage. 
 
 Robb said his heart went out to the victims. 
 
 "This is not just the fact that a helicopter crashed, this is a human tragedy. People died and were horribly injured. It's a tragedy for human beings," Robb said. ||||| (CNN) Three people died when a EC-130 helicopter operated by sightseeing tour company Papillon Airways went down at 5:20 p.m. (7:20 p.m. ET) Saturday near Quartermaster Canyon, within the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Nation. 
 
 Three other passengers and the pilot were injured. 
 
 The six passengers on board were visiting from the United Kingdom, Police Chief Francis E. Bradley Sr. of the Hualapai reservation said. 
 
 Passengers Becky Dobson, 27, Jason Hill, 32, and Stuart Hill, 30, suffered fatal injuries in the crash, according to a news release from the Hualapai Nation Police Department. Their bodies were recovered early Sunday afternoon. 
 
 The survivors of the crash were rescued during an operation that stretched into the early hours of Sunday morning, Bradley said. 
 
 The injured pilot was identified as Scott Booth, 42. The hospitalized passengers were identified as Ellie Milward, 29, Jonathan Udall, 32, and Jennifer Barham, 39, according to the police news release. 
 
 Rescue efforts 
 
 In a statement, Bradley expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the crash victims. 
 
 He said first responders and rescuers had arrived at the scene within 30 minutes of the crash: "Without their valiant and diligent efforts to stabilize and rescue the survivors under extreme conditions, we may have had more loss of life," he said. 
 
 Bradley earlier said first responders had been hindered by windy, dark and rugged conditions and had a 20-minute hike to the crash scene. 
 
 Rescuers got help from military aircraft from Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas and were eventually able to fly all four of the injured to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, he said. The pilot had severe injury to one of his limbs. 
 
 Rescuers were delayed from reaching the crash sight because of the terrain 
 
 Photos of the crash scene showed flames and dark smoke rising from rocky terrain. 
 
 Teddy Fujimoto told CNN affiliate KSNV he was in the area taking photographs when he witnessed the aftermath of the crash. 
 
 "I saw these two ladies run out of it, and then an explosion. One of the survivors ... looked all bloody. Her clothes probably were burnt off," Fujimoto told KSNV. 
 
 "The ladies were screaming. ... It was just horrible," he said. 
 
 A witness said survivors of the crash ran out of the helicopter screaming 
 
 FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer earlier said the aircraft sustained considerable damage in the crash. 
 
 The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, Kenitzer said. 
 
 An aerial view of Quartermaster Canyon, the area where the helicopter crashed 
 
 Papillon Airways describes itself on its website as "the world's largest aerial sightseeing company" and adds that it provides "the only way to tour the Grand Canyon." 
 
 The company says it flies roughly 600,000 passengers a year on Grand Canyon and other tours. It also notes that it "abides by flight safety rules and regulations that substantially exceed the regulations required by the Federal Aviation Administration." 
 
 "It is with extreme sadness we extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families involved in this accident. Our top priority is the care and needs of our passengers and our staff," Papillon Group CEO Brenda Halvorson said Sunday. 
 
 NTSB records show a helicopter operated by Papillon was involved in a deadly crash on August 10, 2001, near Meadview, Arizona. The pilot and five passengers were killed; one passenger survived, the NTSB report shows. 
 
 NTSB investigators determined the probable cause of the 2001 crash was pilot error.
– A tour helicopter carrying seven people crashed in the Grand Canyon, reports the AP, killing three people and injuring four others. Six passengers and a pilot were on board the Papillion Grand Canyon Helicopters chopper when it crashed around 5:20pm Saturday on the Hualapai Nation near Quartermaster Canyon, Hualapai Nation Police Chief Francis Bradley said. The four who were injured were level 1 trauma patients and were being treated at the scene. "We are having difficulties getting the four people out of the crash site area to the hospital," Bradley tells CNN. "It is too windy and it's dark and the area is very rugged." The company's website says it flies roughly 600,000 passengers a year on Grand Canyon and other tours. It also notes that it "abides by flight safety rules and regulations that substantially exceed the regulations required by the Federal Aviation Administration." Longtime helicopter crash lawyer Gary Robb represented a woman badly burned in a deadly Papillion crash at the Grand Canyon in 2001. He said the company has made big improvements since that crash. "They've improved their piloting qualifications as well as their maintenance over the last 10 years and as far as I know they've not had a crash since 2001," he said. He said flying in the Grand Canyon can be treacherous simply because of the number of helicopters there. FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Eurocopter EC130 crashed in unknown circumstances and sustained heavy damage. Robb said his heart went out to the victims. "This is not just the fact that a helicopter crashed, this is a human tragedy. People died and were horribly injured. It's a tragedy for human beings," Robb said.