Accidents
Snowmobiler Who Collided with Army Helo Awarded $3.3M
Black Hawk had landed on a private airstrip that was also a snowmobile trail

A snowmobiler who was seriously injured from crashing into a parked Army Black Hawk helicopter in 2019 has been awarded $3.3 million by a federal judge. Jeff Smith hit the aircraft at 65 mph at night while transiting a rural Worthington, Massachusetts airstrip that was also used as a snowmobile trail.

The helicopter was on a training mission from Fort Drum, New York, and the crew did not set up reflective cones or chem sticks after it was parked. Smith had drunk two beers and was on prescription drugs immediately before the accident. He also was wearing tinted goggles.