Word to the wise: If you want to walk away with a cool $3.3 million in damages, all you have to do is be a snowmobiler who crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter improperly parked on a snowmobile path. It’s just that easy!
US District Judge Mark Mastroianni found that the federal government was mostly responsible—literally 60% responsible—for a March 2019 collision between a snowmobiler named Jeff Smith and a parked Black Hawk helicopter in Massachusetts. The judge ruled that the government negligently parked the camouflaged helicopter on an active snowmobile trail without any lights or warning to oncoming travelers.
Videos by VICE
The Black Hawk helicopter was being used for a night training operation. Smith was riding his snowmobile when a giant Black Hawk helicopter came out of nowhere and he slammed into it. He sustained several injuries, including broken ribs and a punctured lung. He says he has since been struggling to complete daily tasks, and he relies on disability assistance.
The government tried to blame Smith for the incident, claiming that he was traveling over 65 miles an hour and had been consuming alcohol before he hopped on the snowmobile. The judge agreed that Smith deserves some blame, but ultimately settled on the simple fact that you can’t just leave a giant aircraft designed for war on a random road in the dark. Someone’s bound to crash into it, no matter their condition.
In the end, the judge attributed 60% of the fault to the federal government, which tipped the scales enough to Smith’s favor. He had been trying to walk away with $9.5 million for medical expenses and lost wages but received 3.3 million in damages instead.
