Courtesy of ZeroHedge View original post here.
Two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters belonging to the Utah National Guard crashed during a field training exercise Tuesday at Mineral Basin, just outside of the Snowbird Ski Resort, according to Salt Lake City-based KUTV News.
Aviation Public Affairs Officer Jared Jones said both Black Hawks were conducting a winter mountain training exercise around 0930 local time when they touched down in an approved landing zone. As the one helicopter landed, both experienced white-out conditions, and that was when the main rotor blade from one of the helicopters struck the other.
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
"We are grateful that no one was seriously injured thanks to the quick reaction and training of both command pilots," said Maj. Matthew Green, commander 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion. "Right now, our top priority is taking care of both crews."
The landing zone was near Snowbird Ski Resort. No skiers in the area were injured at the time of the incident.
A video of the incident was posted on Twitter while skiers stood in disbelief hundreds of yards away. Both helicopters can be seen landing, as the downforce of their main rotor blades created enough downforce to produce white-out conditions. Then a loud bang could be heard as it appears both main rotors of the helicopters touched. It's hard to tell which helicopter caused the accident due to white-out conditions.
Incredible video of the crash shared with us by Garet Marsh : https://t.co/tviyF3ppvc @KUTV2News pic.twitter.com/kxyWZ4Jqvm
— Jeremy Harris (@JeremyHarrisTV) February 22, 2022
Pictures of the aftermath show debris littered the ski area as both helicopters appeared damaged.
Here's a video of the helicopters, on approach, moments before landing in the approved landing zone.
He also shared this video which appears to show them flying into the Mineral Basin area. @KUTV2News pic.twitter.com/UK9rXDiEZa
— Jeremy Harris (@JeremyHarrisTV) February 22, 2022
Maybe the Utah National Guard has some more winter survivability training to complete. Clearly, they're not ready for war with Russia if all breaks out in Ukraine.