Two people flown off Sand Mountain after UTV goes down steep drop-off

File photo shows a Life Flight helicopter on Sand Mountain, Washington County, Utah, September 2017 | Photo by Ron Chaffin, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Two people were flown off Sand Mountain with injuries on Friday afternoon after a side-by-side utility terrain vehicle crashed down a steep drop-off.

Sand Hollow State Park officials and others were alerted to the crash of a UTV on Sand Mountain around 4 p.m. Responding along with state park personnel were members of Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue and the Washington County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team, park manager Jonathan Hunt said.

The two people inside the UTV had been “following all safety precautions” while riding across the dunes when they came across one with a steep drop-off, Hunt said, which caused the UTV to go airborne and land hard.

He said this resulted in the driver and passenger receiving injuries to their heads, necks and backs. Because of the potential severity of these types of injuries, both Life Flight and Mercy Air medical helicopters were called in to transport the two to St. George Regional Hospital.

Flying the two injured UTV riders off Sand Mountain was determined to be a safer route than trying to move them to an ambulance at the bottom of the sand dunes, Hunt said.

“We’re grateful to everyone who came out and assisted with the operation,” he added.

This UTV crash on Sand Mountain follows one that happened Aug. 13. In that incident, a man’s arm was seriously injured when it became pinned under the UTV after it rolled.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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