Two helicopters slammed into each other Monday while trying to land near Parkman in Sheridan County during a Wyoming Game and Fish operation to capture mule deer.
There were no injuries reported in the collision, which happened at about 9:10 a.m., according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“A Robinson R44 Raven II, (tail number) N996NR, and a Robinson R44 Raven II, N74730, were both substantially damaged when they collided with each other on landing near Parkman, Wyoming. There were no injuries,” according to the NTSB.
The choppers were registered to two private aviation companies based in Elko, Nevada — Twin Rivers Wildlife and Native Range Capture Services.
Messages left for the aviation companies were not returned.
Inherently Risky Work
The choppers and crews were contracted to capture and collar mule deer for research in the north Bighorn mountains, Game and Fish Spokeswoman Amanda Fry told Cowboy State Daily.
No Game and Fish personnel were onboard either chopper, or otherwise directly involved with the crash, she said.
Game and Fish frequently hires private aviation companies for wildlife capture operations, or to fly fish in to stock remote, high mountain lakes.
Tony Mong, the Game and Fish Cody Region wildlife biologist, previously told Cowboy State Daily that aerial wildlife capture operations take a specific set of skills and are inherently risky.
That is why the agency contracts companies that specialize in it, he said.
“It’s fairly dangerous work. It’s very specific work. There are companies that specialize in doing this year-round,” he said.
The operations require pilots to fly low over wildlife, and the animals usually captured in nets dropped from the helicopter, Mong said.
Once the animals are netted, the choppers land and pilots and/or other crew members scramble out to perform tasks such as taking blood samples or attaching radio tracking collars to the animals, he said.
No Local Response Reported
Sheridan County Sheriff Levi Dominguez and Jeff Barron, chief for Tongue River Fire District, said their departments hadn’t received any reports of a helicopter crash on Monday.
They both said a call from Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday was the first they’d heard of the incident.
Fry said Game and Fish didn’t have any information regarding what, if any emergency responders were called to the scene.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
