Lawyer Who Crashed His Snowmobile Into Black Hawk Helicopter Receives $3.3 Million in Damages

A federal court ruled this week that the U.S. government must pay a Massachusetts lawyer $3.3 million in damages following a March 2019 snowmobile accident in which he crashed into a highway. Black Hawk Helicopter which had been parked on a path overnight.

U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni ruled that the government was 60 percent liable for parking the helicopter on a snowmobile trail after flying from Fort Drum to New York. Worthington, Massachusetts, but also criticized Jeff Smith for not operating the snowmobile safely, for speeding and for wearing tinted goggles, according to the Associated Press.

“The court finds that the government breached its duty of care by failing to take steps to protect against the obvious risk of a camouflaged helicopter parked on an active snowmobile trail in a somewhat wooded area at dusk,” Mastroianni reportedly wrote. “The helicopter and the area where it was parked were not lit or marked in any way.”

Smith, who was airlifted to a trauma center with a dozen broken ribs, a punctured lung and severe internal bleeding after the crash, now has difficulty performing simple tasks, including putting on socks or pulling up his pants, the AP reports.

FLASHBACK: MASSACHUSETTS LAWYER WHO RAMMED SNOWMOBILE INTO BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER SUES GOVERNMENT FOR $9.5 MILLION

A damaged Black Hawk helicopter rests in the snow, March 13, 2019, in Worthington, Massachusetts, after the collision. (U.S. Army photo provided by attorney Douglas Desjardins via AP)

He had initially sought $9.5 million in damages to cover his medical expenses and lost wages and to hold the military liable for the accident.

“We are grateful to Justice Mastroianni for his careful consideration of the complex facts of this case,” Smith’s lawyer, Doug Desjardins, said after the decision. “We believe justice was served and that the decision promotes public safety.”

Smith's lawyers argued that the crew of the Black Hawk helicopter that I flew for night training was negligent in parking a camouflaged 64-foot aircraft on an airfield that is also rarely used by snowmobilers.

The helicopter landed on a Federal Aviation Administration-approved runway, and crew members testified that training often takes place in similar locations. But Smith, who said he has snowmobiled over the runway more than 100 times, said the last time an aircraft used it was decades ago, when he was a child — and never a military plane.

US ARMY PRIVATE TRAVIS KING, WHO FLEEDED TO NORTH KOREA, IS 'NOW FREE' AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO DESERTION

Jeff Smith rests in a hospital bed at Baystate Medical Center in April 2019 in Springfield, Massachusetts, after crashing his snowmobile. (Photo by Kerry Smith via AP)

The government has tried to dismiss the case several times, arguing that it cannot be sued under federal tort law because a political decision was at stake. The government has also argued that the crew members were not informed that they were landing on a snowmobile trail and has tried to shift the blame to Smith, saying he was driving his sled at over 65 mph and had taken the two prescription medications and drunk two beers before his ride.

The night of the crash, Jeff Smith said he was at his mother's house helping fix a computer. He had a beer with dinner and another with his father before heading out to meet his brother, Richard Smith, at the trail. Jeff Smith drove in the dark through fields and forests before cresting a ridge. His headlights reflected “something,” he said, but Smith didn't know it was a helicopter until after the crash.

Smith's damaged snowmobile after the March 2019 collision in Worthington, Massachusetts. (U.S. Army photo provided by attorney Douglas Desjardins via AP)

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“I found him face down in the snow,” Benjamin Foster, one of the Black Hawk crew members, told the court. “We rolled him onto his back and I remember yelling or asking one of my crew chiefs to get trauma scissors and survival blankets from the plane. … I remember him gasping for air.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.