Anybody hear /read any news about 2 Blackhawks crashing at Snowbird Ski resort , UT?

Yikes. Crews thankfully, are okay, which is what really matters.

This all that I found so far: " The Utah National Guard confirmed two Black Hawk helicopters have crashed near the Mineral Basin ski area. Officials say the crash happened during a training accident around 9:30 a.m. No crew members were injured during the crash, but both helicopters sustained damage."

American Military News (another site that I follow)


2 Black Hawk helicopters crash in Utah | American Military News

During an afternoon press conference Utah National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CWO 5) Jared Jones said the pair of helicopters was flying to an area for approved winter landing training. Jones said the exact circumstances of the incident are still unclear, but from what he had observed from the incident video, as the lead helicopter came in for a landing, the helicopter rotor blades kicked up a lot of snow, likely causing the flight crew to lose visibility with the ground.

As the first helicopter impacted against the ground, a piece of its rotor blade separated and hit the second helicopter, forcing it to land. Jones said a full investigation is underway.


The crash took place near the Snowbird Ski Resort in Mineral Basin, located an hour southeast of Salt Lake City. Jones said the landing area was on federal land located about 150 yards from Snowbird’s official property.

Jones said the helicopter crews took a ski tram down to the Snowbird ski resort where they were received by resort staff.

Jones also said the crash sites were contained and there were no indications of fuel leaks.

Kinda crappy photos

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@MikeD any thoughts?
 
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Your vague post led me to google and find this:


Great video in there from the lift, looks like tandem landing, whiteout, typical ending.
Thx for replying.......some of the emergency management life ive lived...well, purposely vague with all the players I "work" with cuz well one needs to specific....some eyes start glazing over. Like the time I was asked about single engine airtanker contracts and was asked ..."If it were Christmas, which contract would you pick?" My response...."There is NO Christmas in aviation!" Have to remember....emergency management agencies traditionally, have no concept of these operations
 
Ernie Gann related the tale of a delivery flight to Europe where the pilots were flying through a snowstorm when the plane suddenly slowed to a stop. Crew piled out to find themselves at the top of a snowdrift on Greenland.
 
Lost this one in Hawaii today, killing all four on board.

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Date:22-FEB-2022
Time:c. 10:00
Type:
Silhouette image of generic S61 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different

Sikorsky S-61N
Owner/operator:Croman Corporation
Registration:N615CK
MSN:61814
Fatalities:Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage:Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Category:Accident
Location:N of Pacific Missile Range Facility (BHK/PHBK), HI -
N.gif
United States of America
Phase:Unknown
Nature:Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:
Investigating agency:NTSB
Confidence Rating:
4.gif
Little or no information is available
Narrative:
A Sikorsky S-61N crashed north of Pacific Missile Range Facility (BHK/PHBK), Barking Sands, Hawaii.
The four POB were killed and the helicopter was destroyed.

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First time we have powder in like 6 weeks and two helo's crash. Damn, this season really does suck
 
Why would they be doing military training next to a civilian ski area?

All I've read so far is:

"The two helicopters were attempting to land at an approved landing zone about 150 yards from the ski area as part of a routine training exercise, Jared Jones, a spokesperson with the Utah National Guard, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Also, "Both pilots involved Tuesday are very experienced. An incident like this is “quite rare,” he added. The Utah National Guard practices similar training exercises weekly". And " the crash occurred during a standard training exercise on U.S. Forest Service land just outside the boundaries of Snowbird Ski Resort". Another from Jones, " ones said it was routine for pilots in train to land in difficult areas regardless of weather conditions to prepare for combat, but rare for them to crash".
 
There is some video out there and it certainly appears to be related to whiteout conditions.
 
To get good at brownout and whiteout landings, you have to do brownout and whiteout landings. And acceptable risk in order to do the real world business. Sometimes things end up bent; hopefully that’s all that happens.

A whole lot of the problem is so much of Brown/White out is institutional knowledge and not specific courses of instruction.

That’s great if you live/work in a unit that is constantly in that stuff and maintains the skill set. Now days though with years and years of time where people don’t do it, we are having to learn hard lessons with bent metal.


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A whole lot of the problem is so much of Brown/White out is institutional knowledge and not specific courses of instruction.

That’s great if you live/work in a unit that is constantly in that stuff and maintains the skill set. Now days though with years and years of time where people don’t do it, we are having to learn hard lessons with bent metal.

In my job where we perform them often, the problem now is we’re getting relatively inexperienced helo pilots with nothing in their SA bag of tricks related to this, versus former military who either had exposure/training with this or otherwise did it often. And it shows in having to give the training for these events; a crawl….crawl….crawl a little faster pace, rather than crawl…walk…run pace with the pilot candidates we used to get.
 
In my job where we perform them often, the problem now is we’re getting relatively inexperienced helo pilots with nothing in their SA bag of tricks related to this, versus former military who either had exposure/training with this or otherwise did it often. And it shows in having to give the training for these events; a crawl….crawl….crawl a little faster pace, rather than crawl…walk…run pace with the pilot candidates we used to get.
A whole lot of the problem is so much of Brown/White out is institutional knowledge and not specific courses of instruction.

That’s great if you live/work in a unit that is constantly in that stuff and maintains the skill set. Now days though with years and years of time where people don’t do it, we are having to learn hard lessons with bent metal.


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I’ll just add that even with a lot of experience in a variety of environmental situations, even the most seasoned of us can eff it up.
 
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