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| Photo provided by @LifterMike93 shows the scene where a pair of Utah National Guard Black Hawk helicopters were involved in an accident near Snowbird Ski Resort in Snowbird, Utah on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. (@LifterMike93 via AP) |
SALT LAKE CITY - Two Black Hawk copters reportedly crashed within a many hundred measures of a Utah ski resort Tuesday morning during practice as skiers in a near lift watched large shadows of snow swell into the air.
It was reported that neither man nor woman on board the copter or dozens of skiers hard were injured, authorities said. Utah National Guard spokesperson Jared Jones said the accident passed during standard practice on US Forest Service grounds just outside the borders of the Snowbird Ski Resort, about 47 kilometers from Salt Lake City.
Joseph Schafer, 23, from Provo, heard the thud. He said it sounded analogous to the explosive sound of an snares ski command setting out to control an avalanche, but realized it was an accident when he saw copter blades fly out of a greasepaint pall. He was thankful no bone was seriously injured, but said skiers like him were burdened when the resort closed lifts and wagonettes near the crash point.
Other skiers and snowboarders who took advantage of the fresh snow thispost-Presidents Day weekend and clear skies said they also heard explosions and saw dust rising from the crash point under their chairlifts. When it settled down, some people could see the blades of the broken propellers in the debris.
Jani Radebaugh, another skier from Provo, said she and her hubby saw the copter flying near to the ground in what appeared to be conformation. The brace turned around after the copter faded into the dust that was demurred by their blades, but also heaved after hearing a'womp'sound.
"All I could see was a big, long, straight thing flying from there — perhaps 100 or 150 yards from there,"Radebaugh said of the propeller blades.
When the dust settled, he saw the Blackhawk sloped over in the snow. Kaia Shine, an 8- time-old from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, who was skiing with her father and family also saw the propeller blade break in the wreckage."I saw a rotor cover, and it was scary because it started spinning in the air,"he said.
Snowbird is known as one of the top ski and snowboard destinations in the country due to its cornucopia of snowfall and variety of terrain. The two UH-60 copters crashed near the Mineral Basin, a typically windswept couloir at the reverse of the resort known for its expert terrain.
Jones said it was routine for aviators on trains to land in delicate areas anyhow of rainfall conditions to prepare for battle, but it was rare for them to crash. He didn't give information on the cause of the crash but said sweats were being made to probe the incident and to remove damaged outfit from the pitches of the mountain.
“ We train on the edge so we're set for a combat terrain anywhere in the world. The crew assumes some degree of threat. Whenever you fly a copter, there is a bit of peril involved. I am just glad everyone's okay,"he said.
The crash came about a time after two analogous copter crashes. In January 2021, a UH-60 Blackhawk crashed during a training exercise, killing three people in New York. The following month, a analogous accident killed three people in Boise, Idaho.