The federal government was mostly responsible for a nighttime collision involving a snowmobiler who nearly died after hitting a Black Hawk helicopter that was parked on a Massachusetts trail, a judge ruled in awarding him $3.3 million in damages.
U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni blamed both parties for the March 2019 crash in his ruling Monday, but said the government was 60% responsible for parking the helicopter on a snowmobile trail. He criticized Jeff Smith for not operating the snowmobile safely, for speeding and for wearing tinted goggles.
…parking a camouflaged 64-foot (19.5-meter) aircraft on a rarely used airfield also used by snowmobilers.
Smith also sued the owner of Albert Farms airfield in Worthington, accusing them of both giving permission to snowmobilers to use the trail and the Black Hawk crew to land in the same area. He settled with the farm owner for an undisclosed sum.
Needs a caution sign “this is an airfield, use at your own risk”.
Or “this is a snowmobile trail. Park aircraft at your own risk”.
Driving past your headlights is your fault. Can’t sue a fallen tree or a deer can you?
Also, what a weird place for a random black hawk. Or rather, what a weird idea for a dual purpose airfield/snowmobile trail.
