As Arizona continues to remember the Department of Public Safety troopers lost in last week’s helicopter crash, investigators are now working to determine exactly what went wrong.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are on the ground in Flagstaff, beginning a detailed investigation into the crash of DPS helicopter Ranger 56.
So what are investigators looking for, and how long could it take to get answers? Tim Kiefer is a former air traffic controller and professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott. He says investigators will document and analyze every detail of the crash.
“When you’re up there, trying to save people, or help your fellow law enforcement officials, and that happens, it’s very tragic,” Kiefer said.
He says the aviation community is small and closely connected, which makes tragedies like this especially difficult.
“Whether it’s the fueler, the fixed wing operator who saw the crew every day, this definitely affects everybody involved down the line,” Kiefer said.
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When it comes to the investigation itself, Kiefer says no detail is too small.
“They’ll look at everything. They’ll look at bolts. Every ounce of wreckage. Every radar return, the pilots training record, the maintenance record for the aircraft,” Kiefer said.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety confirmed the helicopter had recently passed an inspection.
“The ranger involved was last inspected on January 29th of 2026,” said DPS Director Col. Jeffrey Glover. “If any lessons emerge from this tragedy we will learn from them and act on them decisively, as safety is part of our culture.”
Despite that, Kiefer says investigators will still independently verify every piece of information. That includes maintenance documents, training records, radio communications, and physical evidence recovered from the crash site.
“By putting all those pieces together, all those minute details, and putting together a picture, they can determine what happened and what caused this helicopter to go down,” Kiefer said.
While many people want immediate answers, Kiefer says the painstaking nature of these investigations serves a critical purpose.
“The reason they are so meticulous about this accident, especially when it involves a fatality, or two fatalities, is they want to prevent something like this from ever happening again,” Kiefer said.
Kiefer says a preliminary report with some answers could be released later this month, but the full investigation could take a year or longer to complete.
