Hungry Horse News

A Columbia Falls man is dead after a snowmobile accident Dec. 30 north of the city.

Mark Trebas, 25, was killed when the sled he was driving struck a tree at a speed of between 50 and 60 mph, said Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan.

According to the accident report, Trebas was apparently unfamiliar with a sled with a left-hand throttle.

Instead of hitting the brakes, he apparently accelerated when he should have been braking. He suffered severe head injuries in the crash.

The accident happened near the intersection of Trumbull Creek and South Canyon Creek.

Trebas was Life Flighted to St. Patrick's Hospital.

He was pronounced dead at 2:05 p.m. en route to the hospital according to the report. The accident happened at about 10:50 a.m.

The Kalispell Regional Medical Center's ALERT helicopter, which normally would respond to such an accident, is down after it suffered engine problems and nearly crash landed at the hospital Nov. 2.

The hospital has a leased helicopter that is supposed to replace the damaged helicopter, but a maintenance check of that craft has delayed its use, said KRMC spokesman Jim Oliverson.

Oliverson said the leased helicopter is expected to be in the air this week.

The hospital will have the leased helicopter until May, he said. Meanwhile, the original ALERT helicopter is still undergoing frame testing and other tests. The hope is that it can be repaired and back in service.

If it can't, the hospital's worst-case scenario is purchasing a new helicopter, he said, which could cost as much as $2 million and could take until 2009 to arrive.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating why ALERT's engine failed.