“The Australian flight crew was in the process of netting a cow elk, which jumped and hit the tail rotor of the helicopter,” according to a statement from Wasatch County Search & Rescue. “This almost severed the tail rotor and ended the flight of this chopper.”
The crew members, who received cuts and bruises, were treated by paramedics from nearby Fruitland and were expected to be fine.
“As for the chopper, not so good,” the statement read. “Not something you see every day when an elk brings down a chopper.”
The helicopter was contracted by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, according to KUTV in Salt Lake City. A spokeswoman for the DWR told the news station that the elk was killed in the crash.
The crew planned to sedate the elk and fly it to have a tracking collar placed on it for later study by biologists, the news station said.
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