Helicopter Goes Down In Bluffdale Field

BLUFFDALE, Utah – A helicopter went down in a field in Bluffdale Wednesday evening, sending the pilot to the hospital and leaving an unlikely scene for responding police officers and firefighters.

From a distance, the situation seemed dire. And you wouldn’t expect anything less in response to the call of a helicopter crash near homes off Redwood Road and 14805 South.

“You could hear it, but we’re right by Redwood Road so we thought it was another car crash,” neighbor Jeff Halterman said.

A closer look at the sheared off branches, shredded blades and shattered glass told a much different story from the car crashes they’re used to hearing.

“We had a piano student here and the mom was sitting out front waiting for her son. [She] heard the crash and drove over to the property and saw him get out of the helicopter immediately and his wife took him to the hospital,” Halterman said.

The pilot was back home hours later, bruised up but okay. He told the KSL5 crew off camera that he he was taking his personal helicopter out for one of the last times before he planned to sell it. He was just hovering near his property when he says he lost the tail rotor and then started spinning before he made the hard landing, hitting his head.

Police arrived minutes later and found the pilot had already gone to the hospital.

“Some of our officers are experienced pilots,” said Sergeant Stidham with the Bluffdale Police Department. “They’re familiar with aircraft and they were able to turn the fuel tanks off and kill the power to the aircraft.”

The owner said the crash will likely cost tens of thousands of dollars in damage. But neighbors are happy that’s all it will cost.

“Just glad he’s okay,” Halterman said. “That’s all that matters.”

Bluffdale Police have turned over the investigation to the Federal Aviation Administration.