Bell 222UT N222UH

Summary

On 12 January 1998 at about 05:50 local time, a Bell 222UT registered N222UH, operated by Air Methods, was involved in an accident near Sandy, Utah, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 January 1998 at 05:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Sandy, Utah, United States

Coordinates

40.5697, -111.8901

Aircraft

Bell 222UT

Registration

N222UH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Air Methods

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Salt Lake City

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW98FA093

4 people died.

flight by the pilot into known adverse weather conditions, and his failure (or inability) to maintain sufficient clearance or altitude from mountainous terrain. Related factors were: darkness, heavy snow, high winds, the pilot's perception of pressure that was induced by the conditions and events, and mountainous terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The hospital helicopter was dispatched to transport a skier, who had been injured in an avalanche. Snow was not falling when the helicopter departed the hospital, but there were 'gusty winds and light to moderate snow' during arrival at the landing zone. The dispatcher telephoned the pilot (using a cellular phone) to advise him that hospital weather conditions had deteriorated due to a fast moving front. She said it was 'snowing really hard,' the winds were gusting to 37 knots, and visibility was less than 300 feet (she could not see a wing of the hospital on the closed circuit television monitor, and could barely distinguish the helipad). A sheriff's deputy said that the helicopter took off from the landing zone in 'blizzard conditions' and circled the landing zone, then turned north and disappeared from view. Seconds later, a deputy heard 'a slight muffled boom. . . The weather had grown steadily worse and the snow was falling very heavily.' Later, the helicopter was found where it had impacted mountainous terrain in a canyon area. Several tree tops were severed when the helicopter crashed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.