Leaping Elk Crashes Low-Flying Research Helicopter In Utah

An elk leaped into a research helicopter that was trying to capture it and brought down the helicopter in a collision that also killed the elk, authorities said Tuesday. The elk jumped into the chopper’s tail rotor as the aircraft flew about 10 feet (3 meters) above ground in a mountainous part of eastern Utah, with its crew trying to drop a net on the elk, said Jared Rigby of the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office. The two people on board weren’t seriously hurt, but the elk died of its injuries Monday afternoon.