Gold Member 800renegaderider Posted March 7 Gold Member Share Posted March 7 (edited) Not the movie…. seems Polaris guys have a hard time avoiding hitting shit dogs, helicopters https://nypost.com/2024/03/06/us-news/dad-who-crashed-snowmobile-into-black-hawk-chopper-sues/amp/ Edited March 7 by 800renegaderider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polaris7541 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 (edited) wow hope smith gets the settlement , that a pretty bizzro story , imo the notification or lighting of the choper should have been posted or the trail closed Edited March 7 by polaris7541 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Member 800renegaderider Posted March 7 Author Gold Member Share Posted March 7 11 minutes ago, polaris7541 said: wow hope smith gets the settlement , that a pretty bizzro story , imo the notification or lighting of the choper should have been posted or the trail closed One of the comments said it wasn’t an actual trail just had been used for years and was a known trail? Idk if that’s true I’ve never ridden there but definitely a odd story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnstang Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 You should be aware of what you're doing and be prepared for something in the trail. How do you not see a fucking Blackhawk helicopter? What if it was any other stationary object like a groomer or snowmobile or a person, a fallen tree. And that's not even considering another oncoming snowmobile. See it every season some of these idiots I swear they only look 5 feet in front of their skis. I will spot them immediately and watch them for seconds and can see when they finally see me because they usually panic and jerk the bars and almost roll their machine into me wtf total fucking squids. My eyes are always focused on the furthest part I can see around any corner or hill with finger on the brake ready as soon as I see anything. Sucks this guy got fucked up I don't wish that on anyone but it's his own fault. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not greg b Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 He was riding his snowmobile on an air field, in the dark after drinking “one beer” and it was a skidoo this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnstang Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 2 hours ago, polaris7541 said: wow hope smith gets the settlement , that a pretty bizzro story , imo the notification or lighting of the choper should have been posted or the trail closed Why? For 9.5 million I'll ride my sled into a helicopter too. It's his own fault there is no guarantees out there. No person accountability these days it's always someone else's fault for everyone's negligence. He was obviously going faster than his capability to hit a giant stationary object it's not like the helicopter fell from the sky and landed on him FFS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Member 800renegaderider Posted March 7 Author Gold Member Share Posted March 7 1 hour ago, Not greg b said: He was riding his snowmobile on an air field, in the dark after drinking “one beer” and it was a skidoo this time Incorrect sir…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p51mstg Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 (edited) The story is confusing. An airport and a snowmobile trail should not be the same point on a map. Near me is a trail that goes around an airport, not on it. That's the way it should be. Muddying the waters, it sounds like it was a private airport/airstrip and not public. Why was a military aircraft landing at a private airstrip? Why did they land at an airport with no lighting system at night (most private airstrips don't have lights for night operations). Why did they shut down and turn their lights off? None of that makes sense. I can understand why the snowmobiler didn't see the helicopter, it was flat black (or, at least, a dark color) - paint intended to make it hard to see at night. They paint it that way on purpose. On the other side of the coin, I agree - snowmobilers accept risks every time they ride. We need to fully understand and manage those risks. When I was younger, a snowmobiler was killed riding a ditch at night when they blew past a road sign and it decapitated them. Nobody blamed the sign. It doesn't happen as often any more, but livestock fencing can also decapitate unsuspecting sledders and nobody has ever blamed the fence (that I know of). It sounds like the snowmobiler sued the land owner and settled out of court. Typical "news" story doesn't give us critical details or context, but at a private airstrip it would be assumed that the owner would need to grant permission to an aircraft to land, especially at night. If this were a training mission, I would expect it. So, to me, the responsibility would fall on the landowner alone for allowing the potential for incompatible vehicles to be in the same place at the same time. Landing at night is a specialized skill. I've worked landing zones for medical helicopters both during the day and at night, and as a fixed wing pilot I know how important it is to practice. But, I'd still want to know why the helicopter shut down and turned off its lights. That's not normal for any training operations I've ever seen at a public airport. Edited March 7 by p51mstg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlafon1 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 3 minutes ago, p51mstg said: But, I'd still want to know why the helicopter shut down and turned off its lights. AGREE. That's a great question we will never get a honest answer for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Member 800renegaderider Posted March 7 Author Gold Member Share Posted March 7 29 minutes ago, p51mstg said: The story is confusing. An airport and a snowmobile trail should not be the same point on a map. Near me is a trail that goes around an airport, not on it. That's the way it should be. Muddying the waters, it sounds like it was a private airport/airstrip and not public. Why was a military aircraft landing at a private airstrip? Why did they land at an airport with no lighting system at night (most private airstrips don't have lights for night operations). Why did they shut down and turn their lights off? None of that makes sense. I can understand why the snowmobiler didn't see the helicopter, it was flat black (or, at least, a dark color) - paint intended to make it hard to see at night. They paint it that way on purpose. On the other side of the coin, I agree - snowmobilers accept risks every time they ride. We need to fully understand and manage those risks. When I was younger, a snowmobiler was killed riding a ditch at night when they blew past a road sign and it decapitated them. Nobody blamed the sign. It doesn't happen as often any more, but livestock fencing can also decapitate unsuspecting sledders and nobody has ever blamed the fence (that I know of). It sounds like the snowmobiler sued the land owner and settled out of court. Typical "news" story doesn't give us critical details or context, but at a private airstrip it would be assumed that the owner would need to grant permission to an aircraft to land, especially at night. If this were a training mission, I would expect it. So, to me, the responsibility would fall on the landowner alone for allowing the potential for incompatible vehicles to be in the same place at the same time. Landing at night is a specialized skill. I've worked landing zones for medical helicopters both during the day and at night, and as a fixed wing pilot I know how important it is to practice. But, I'd still want to know why the helicopter shut down and turned off its lights. That's not normal for any training operations I've ever seen at a public airport. I looked up the address of the airport and found it on the sled trail map. It just looks like a small airport and it looks like the trail runs right down the strip still. I can’t imagine it’s active if they run the trail right down the strip. Place looks abandoned from google earth. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICG Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 What a SHAM..... a stationary helicopter on an air strip ... Its easy to see why people ( including myself) refuse to allow public access on private property.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripleflipper Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Guess Poo will have to develop a sled with a helicopter guard, could be an option on the 26's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frostynuts Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 If you cann,t ride under proper care and control, while going the posted speed limit, you shouldn,t be in control of a sled. It is pathetic that a person driving a snowmobile cann,t see a helicopter that had landed on a trail. WTF is wrong with the courts, that even allow these retarded cases to even get that far. They should be charging the idiot and making him pay for the total repair cost of the helicopter. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palu49 Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 I mean whether or not the guy should have seen a helicopter in the trail is one thing but 100% the helicopter crew should have seen that they were on a groomed snowmobile trail. Common sense would say put out some precautions to show that their flat black helicopter that is meant to be basically invisible at night is in the middle of the trail. Says the guy came over a ridge (idk how that makes sense on an air strip but we’ll go with it) and saw something to try and avoid and hit the outside of the horizontal stabilizer. Obviously he didn’t hit it just cruising with no effort to avoid it or he’d be 100% dead. Depending on the actual terrain right before he hit the helicopter I’d put blame at either 50/50 or 90/10 on the helicopter crew. I was in the military for 8 years I can tell you right now the combined IQ of the helicopter crew was probably just barely over that of the guy on the sled. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X2700 Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 5 minutes ago, Palu49 said: I mean whether or not the guy should have seen a helicopter in the trail is one thing but 100% the helicopter crew should have seen that they were on a groomed snowmobile trail. Common sense would say put out some precautions to show that their flat black helicopter that is meant to be basically invisible at night is in the middle of the trail. Says the guy came over a ridge (idk how that makes sense on an air strip but we’ll go with it) and saw something to try and avoid and hit the outside of the horizontal stabilizer. Obviously he didn’t hit it just cruising with no effort to avoid it or he’d be 100% dead. Depending on the actual terrain right before he hit the helicopter I’d put blame at either 50/50 or 90/10 on the helicopter crew. I was in the military for 8 years I can tell you right now the combined IQ of the helicopter crew was probably just barely over that of the guy on the sled. Been alot of black hawk accidents lately!!This may explain it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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