Rescue member dead in northwest Wyoming helicopter crash, Morris man dies in snowmobile accident

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) -- Authorities in Wyoming say a failed rear rotor may have caused a search and rescue helicopter to crash, killing one of the crew members attempting to help an injured snowmobiler.

Teton County sheriff's officials say the snowmobiler, 53-year-old Steven Anderson of Morris, Minn., also died as a result of the accident that prompted the call for help on Wednesday.

The helicopter had reached Anderson and his party but was leaving to get more help when it crashed on Togwotee Pass in northwest Wyoming. Sixty-three-year-old rescuer Ray Shriver was killed, and the pilot and another rescuer were injured.

The Jackson Hole Daily reported that the pilot was limping after he was rescued from the crash and that a third crew member, evacuated by snowmobile, was talking to rescuers.

Sheriff's officials say deputies reached the snowmobilers after tending to the helicopter victims, but Anderson was already deceased. Details of what led his party to call for help weren't immediately available.

Sheriff's officials say the rear rotor on the helicopter may have failed.