WASATCH COUNTY, Utah, Feb. 12, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A helicopter crew from Australia had a “believe it or not” kind of experience Monday afternoon in Wasatch County.
The crew was in the process of capturing elk for the state of Utah, according to a Facebook post from Wasatch Search and Rescue. They were working in the Currant Creek area.
A little after 4:30 p.m., as the flight crew was netting a cow elk, the elk somehow jumped up and hit the helicopter’s tail rotor, nearly severing it and bringing the chopper down.
Wasatch SAR responded and spent about an hour and a half at the scene.
SAR reported that the two people on board the helicopter were checked out by Fruitland EMS and, except for a few small cuts and bruises, were OK.
“As for the chopper, not so good,” the SAR post concluded. “Not something you see everyday when an Elk brings down a chopper.”
It was later reported that the elk did not survive.
