At first it was reported the pilot was avoiding a cable and that’s what caused this rough landing at Ski Apache in New Mexico but Ruidoso News now reports the landing, which left the medivac helicopter unflyable and injured a nurse, is blamed on a downdraft:
“They believe when the pilot was coming in, it was not mechanical or anything like that. The winds were whipping around and shifting, so when the helicopter was coming in to land, it either got a down-draft or a severe change in the wind, which created a very hard landing.”
The National Transportation Safety Board was contacted but officials quickly closed the case: “Because there were no major injuries or damage to the aircraft, they immediately released the case and they didn’t want to do any further investigation.”