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(Salt Lake City-AP) -- Investigators hope a piece from the tail of a medical helicopter that crashed in the foothills above the Salt Lake Valley will show what led to the fatal accident.
Salt Lake County Search and Rescue members found the piece of the tail rotor trunnion about 800 yards east of the crash site yesterday. A trunnion is a 7-inch piece of metal that holds the rear rotor assembly together. Without it, it is impossible to steer a helicopter.
The Life Flight helicopter crashed on June seventh, killing the pilot and injuring two others.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which took the pieces away from the site, is investigating what role the trunnion piece may have had in the crash.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
