Pilot Error Determined Cause of Snowbird Blackhawk Helicopter Crash ($9.23M Damages)

According to Utah Army National Guard, whiteout conditions caused a Blackhawk helicopter pilot to lose sight of where he was trying to land, causing the February crash with another helicopter Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah resulted in more than $9 million in damages. KSL reports none of the men and women aboard the helicopter or the dozens of skiers nearby at were injured.

Investigator have concluded the cause of the incident was human error because the pilot couldn’t figure out his position and had to rely on aircraft flight instruments which lead the Blackhawk to roll on its side and break its main rotor. A piece of the rotor flew off and hit the tail rotor of the other helicopter that was nearby in the training exercise.

The second pilot managed to land his Blackhawk despite spinning around due to the tail rotor being compromised. The second pilot’s actions to safely ground his helicopter were described as commendable by investigators.

Both helicopters ended up with major damages estimated at $9.23 million, the report found.