Bell 222UT accident near Sandy, Utah, January 12, 1998
On January 12, 1998 at about 5:50 am local time, a Bell 222UT (helicopter), registered N222UH, was destroyed in an accident near Sandy, Utah. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 4 people were killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
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.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 12, 1998 · about 5:50 am local time
- Place
- Sandy, Utah · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 4 people were killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Bell 222UT · all 222UTs on the register
- Registration
- N222UH · registry record · serial 47545
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
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.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: helicopter; instructor: instrument airplane; instructor: instrument helicopter; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 6,257 hours in all; 318 in this make and model; 42 in the last 90 days; 31 in the last 30 days; 6,257 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,308 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, November 3, 1997; 72 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 8,250 lb
- Seats: 7
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming LTS-101-750C1 (turboshaft); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Air Methods
The flight
- Departed from: NONE at 6:30 am
- Destination: UT21 Salt Lake City UT
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 270° at 35 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
Other NTSB records under N222UH the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number FTW98FA093.