An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter assigned to assist officers during a prolonged and chaotic rooftop gunbattle in Flagstaff crashed late Wednesday, killing the pilot and a state trooper-paramedic on board, authorities said, marking one of two deadly helicopter incidents in the state within days that together claimed six lives.
The crash occurred as police were bringing an armed suspect into custody following nearly two hours of gunfire that left a residential neighborhood under lockdown and residents sheltering in fear, officials said during a Thursday briefing.
Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly said officers were dispatched around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday to a reported domestic violence incident. As officers spoke with a victim in the front yard of a home, a suspect emerged from the rear of the residence and opened fire using a semiautomatic rifle.
What followed, Connolly said, was a sustained and dangerous confrontation in which the suspect moved from rooftop to rooftop, firing repeatedly at officers and into nearby homes.
“This neighborhood was under siege,” Connolly told reporters, describing an unpredictable scene that forced officers to seek cover while trying to contain the threat and protect residents.
The Department of Public Safety helicopter was deployed to provide aerial support and situational awareness to officers on the ground. Around 10:20 p.m., as the suspect was taken into custody with nonfatal gunshot wounds, the helicopter crashed on Flagstaff’s west side, several miles north of Route 66, in a less densely populated area.
Connolly said investigators have not yet determined what caused the aircraft to go down. The helicopter had been actively assisting officers at the time of the crash, he said.
“Our city and our state have experienced a significant loss,” Connolly said. “We are part of this community.”
Authorities identified the pilot as Robert Skanky, a longtime resident of Kingman. City officials said Skanky joined the Department of Public Safety in May 2021 and previously served a decade in the U.S. Marine Corps. The trooper aboard the aircraft, whose name was not immediately released, had joined the department in 2022 and also served as a paramedic.
Michael Hunt, president of Arizona Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 32, said both men died while supporting a dangerous law enforcement operation.
“Both the paramedic and the pilot, a military veteran, made the ultimate sacrifice while supporting the mission,” Hunt said, calling the loss “devastating” for the state’s law enforcement community.
Residents who lived beneath the unfolding gunbattle described a night of terror punctuated by heavy gunfire, police commands over loudspeakers and the sudden, violent end of the helicopter’s flight.
Amanda Brewer, who lives in the neighborhood, said she began hearing gunshots around 8:40 p.m. She estimated nearly 100 rounds were fired over the course of the standoff. As the gunfire continued, she said her family closed their blinds and monitored the situation using security cameras.
Brewer recalled hearing police urge the suspect to surrender peacefully shortly before the helicopter arrived overhead. Moments later, she heard additional shots, including gunfire as the aircraft flew above her home.
Then, she said, the helicopter noise stopped.
“There was a giant boom,” Brewer said. “Our house shook. It was so powerful and so loud.”
Federal Aviation Administration officials said the aircraft was a Bell 407 helicopter built in 2004. After the crash, a fire ignited at the site. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board opened a joint investigation, with four NTSB investigators traveling to Flagstaff to examine the wreckage and review flight data and operational factors.
The helicopter came down roughly 50 feet from a BNSF Railway line, scattering debris across the tracks, the railway said. At the request of police, train traffic was halted overnight and resumed Thursday morning.
Earlier in the evening, emergency alerts warned residents of an active shooter and urged them to avoid the area. Jasmin Parra, 32, said police instructed her family to remain indoors, lock their doors and ignore any knocks.
As gunfire echoed closer, Parra said she could hear officers attempting to negotiate with the suspect from a rooftop. Minutes later, several shots rang out, followed by the violent shaking she later realized may have been the helicopter crash.
“All these emotions just flooded us because we didn’t know what was happening,” she said.
The Department of Public Safety’s Air Rescue Unit, officials noted, routinely trains for high-risk missions, including mountain rescues, water operations and tactical law enforcement support — roles that place crews in complex and often hazardous environments, particularly at night.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett and members of the state’s congressional delegation issued statements honoring the fallen pilot and trooper.
“Their bravery will never be forgotten,” Hobbs said. “We stand with their families, loved ones and DPS colleagues.”
The Flagstaff crash came just days after another fatal helicopter accident elsewhere in Arizona underscored the dangers of low-altitude flight in rugged terrain.
In a separate incident Friday, a privately operated helicopter crashed in a mountainous area near Telegraph Canyon, about 64 miles east of Phoenix, killing all four people aboard, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted on the social platform X.
Those killed included a 59-year-old pilot, two 21-year-old women and a 22-year-old woman. Their names have not been released.
Sheriff’s officials said the helicopter went down around 11 a.m. and may have struck a recreational slackline — a line used for balancing that stretched more than half a mile across the canyon.
“An eyewitness who called 911 reported seeing the helicopter strike a portion of the line before falling to the bottom of the canyon,” the sheriff’s office said.
The aircraft had departed from an airport in Queen Creek, roughly 29 miles west of the crash site. Due to the remote and rugged terrain, rescue crews traveled on foot for several hours to reach the wreckage. Temporary flight restrictions were imposed over the area for safety reasons.
The FAA and NTSB are also investigating that crash.
Together, the two incidents have renewed scrutiny of helicopter safety in Arizona, a state where mountainous landscapes, night operations and aerial law enforcement missions intersect. Aviation experts say the Flagstaff crash highlights the operational risks faced by public safety crews operating in dynamic, hostile environments, while the Telegraph Canyon crash underscores the growing hazards posed by recreational obstacles in backcountry airspace.
As investigators work to determine what went wrong in both cases, state officials and law enforcement leaders say the focus remains on honoring the victims and supporting their families — even as questions mount about how such tragedies might be prevented in the future.
TheAssociatedPress
