BOSTON — Jeff Smith was zooming along on a snowmobile one evening a few years ago when something dark appeared in front of him. He hit the brakes but couldn’t avoid clipping the rear tail of a Black Hawk helicopter parked on the trail.
The March 2019 crash nearly cost Smith his life and is now the subject of a federal lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney. He is seeking $9.5 million in damages from the government, money he says is needed to cover his medical costs and lost wages, and to hold the military responsible for the crash.
“The last five years have been surgery, recovery, surgery, recovery,” said Smith, who lost the use of his left arm, developed breathing problems since the crash and has been unable to work full-time. “Honestly, I feel like I’m in a worse place than when I first had the surgeries in 2019.”
A U.S. District Court judge in Springfield is expected to rule on the lawsuit later this year.
Smith’s attorneys in the yearslong lawsuit allege that the crew of the Black Hawk helicopter that flew down from Fort Drum, New York, for night training was negligent in parking a 60-foot (19.5-meter) camouflaged aircraft at a rarely used airfield that was also used by the air force. snowmobiles. Smith also sued the owner of the Albert Farms airfield in Worthington, Massachusetts, accusing them of allowing both snowmobilers to use the trail and Blackhawk crews to land in the same area. He settled with the farm’s owner for an undisclosed amount.
Smith contends the crew did not do enough to protect him, including failing to warn the snowmobilers of the helicopter’s presence on the path, leaving the 6,577-kilogram aircraft unattended for a short period of time and failing to light up. The helicopter landed on a Federal Aviation Administration-approved runway and crew members stated that training is often conducted at similar locations. But Smith, who said he has been out on the snowmobile more than 100 times, said the last time an aircraft used it was decades ago when he was a child — and never a military aircraft.
“Our argument from the beginning has been that it is incompatible to land a helicopter on an active snowmobile trail,” said Smith’s attorney, Douglas Desjardins, adding that the lawsuit was filed after the government failed to respond to their compensation claim.
“It was quite clear from the Army’s internal investigation that the crew knew they were landing on an active snowmobile trail just before or just after,” he said. ‘What bad thing could happen there? You know, a helicopter on a snowmobile trailer where people are going fast.
The government has tried several times to dismiss the case, arguing that it cannot be prosecuted under the Federal Tort Claims Act because this is a policy decision. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office had no comment.
They also argued that the court had no jurisdiction and that the crew was not told they were landing on a snowmobile trail. They also pushed back on the claim that they could have prevented the accident, saying there was nothing in their policy that required the helicopter’s lighting. They also tried to blame Smith for the accident, claiming that he was driving his sled more than 65 miles per hour at the time of the crash and that he had taken both prescription medications and drank two beers before his ride.
The investigation led the Army to conclude that the crew was unaware that they were landing on a snowmobile trail during the crash. It also questioned whether glow-stick-like devices known as chem-lights, used to illuminate the craft, would have made a difference.
“I found no negligence on the part of the crew and believe they complied with all applicable regulations and laws,” the report said. “Furthermore, given the specific circumstances of this incident, I am not convinced that the use of such chem-lights or similar devices would have prevented the collision.”
The night of the accident, Smith said he was at his mother’s house to help fix a computer. He had a beer with dinner and then another beer with his father before leaving to meet his brother, Richard Smith, at the trial. Smith drove past fields and woods in the dark before driving over a ridge. His headlights reflected on “something,” he said, but Smith didn’t know it was a helicopter until after the crash.
Testimony from the crew and people who came out to see the helicopter painted a chaotic scene after the crash, in which Smith was thrown from his snowmobile and his sled flew through the air.
“I found him face down in the snow,” Benjamin Foster, one of the crew members, told the court. “We rolled him onto his back and I may remember yelling or telling one of my crew chiefs to get some trauma scissors and space blankets from the plane… I remember him gasping for breath.”
“As soon as I heard someone on a snowmobile hit the helicopter, I knew it was my brother,” Richard Smith said. “My heart was in my stomach. I just knew it was him. I went there and my father told me he was still alive. I didn’t sleep that night. I spent that night on my knees praying.”
Smith was flown to a trauma center with a dozen broken ribs, a punctured lung and severe internal bleeding. “It was a mess,” Jeff Smith said.
The 48-year-old returned home after a month in hospital. But he continues to struggle with simple tasks, such as putting on socks or pulling up his pants. Worse, he no longer golfs or snowmobiles, including rides with his brother, friends and his 20-year-old son Anthony. He survives on federal disability assistance and lives with his parents.
“We went away a few times that winter before the accident and he was at that age where we really bonded,” he said. “I feel like it was robbed from me.”
For Richard Smith it meant the loss of his riding partner. “It destroyed me,” he said.
Jeff Smith is now pinning his hopes on winning the lawsuit, which he says would help pay for a procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital to attach an electronically controlled brace that would improve movement in his left arm.
“It would change my life,” he said. “I would definitely be able to function and it would be easier to perform the daily activities of daily living, such as brushing my teeth, taking out the trash, and opening the door with one hand.”