The Utah Army National Guard is reporting not one, but two wrecked UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters on February 22. The good news is that nobody was injured. Investigation into exactly what went wrong is still underway.
Black Hawk training incident
An experienced helicopter pilot is a person who’s wrecked one. Two crews in northern Utah got a lot more bonus training and experience than they expected Tuesday morning, the National Guard announced.
“We can confirm that two Utah National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were involved in a training accident at approx. 9:30 a.m. near Mineral Basin,” they tweeted.
The Guard was relieved to report that no “crew members were injured in the accident.” The whirlybirds didn’t make it.
“Both UH-60s were damaged. The incident is under investigation.” Each Black Hawk has a MSRP sticker of $5.9 million when it rolls off the assembly line.
Breaking: We can confirm that two Utah National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were involved in a training accident at approx. 9:30 a.m. near Mineral Basin. No crew members were injured in the accident. Both UH-60s were damaged. The incident is under investigation.
— Utah National Guard (@UTNationalGuard) February 22, 2022
Not only were the injuries not serious, there weren’t any injuries at all. Utah National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jared Jones explained in a press conference Tuesday afternoon that “the pair of helicopters was flying to an area for approved winter landing training.”
Officials aren’t ready to say much about what happened other than they got a whole lot of training in how not to land a Black Hawk.
How not to land
The Guard spokesman relates “the exact circumstances of the incident are still unclear.” He had personally seen the incident video and offered his observations. As the lead Black Hawk choppered in for a landing, it’s “rotor blades kicked up a lot of snow, likely causing the flight crew to lose visibility with the ground.”
That’s fairly common. The pilot thought the ground was a few feet lower than it really was and he thumped down exceptionally hard.
“As the first helicopter impacted against the ground, a piece of its rotor blade separated and hit the second helicopter, forcing it to land.” Scratch two Black Hawk choppers from the inventory list. Officials add that the crash occurred adjacent to the Snowbird Ski Resort in Mineral Basin.
They were safely on federal land, “located about 150 yards from Snowbird’s official property.”
A lucky skier managed to capture video of the very moment the two Black Hawk helicopters crashed. The pair are seen on the landing approach and kicking up heavy snow as described. “Moments later a loud thud could be heard followed by a slowing in the sound of the helicopter blades.”
Photos show the choppers on the ground with skiers nearby but they were never in any danger. “The crash sites were contained and there were no indications of fuel leaks.” According to Jones, after they walked away from the wreckage, “the helicopter crews took a ski tram down to the Snowbird ski resort where they were received by resort staff.“
