Man Who Crashed Helicopter Last December Was Not Certified

The man who crashed a helicopter in foggy weather last December in the Cosby area, should not have even been at the controls. 36 year old Matthew Jones was set to appear in a Salt Lake City Court yesterday in a hearing on a 16 count indiectment against him that he swindled people out of money. Court documents say that Jones hatched a scheme last fall where he started a busines teaching people how to fly and fly people on trips. Problem is, he was not a certified flight instructor. Also because of past medical problems, the former US Army veteran should not have been flying at all…much less flying a helicopter when it crashed into a heavily wooded area near the Cocke County – Sevier County line near Cosby on December 29, 2021. A passenger, Jullianne Gerritson was killed in that crash and Jones was paralyzed.

According to the government’s case against him, Matthew Jones advertised on Facebook that he could fly up to 20 people to Park City, Utah., for the Sundance Film Festival. One woman looked into the trip but cancelled because she says something “seemed off”. A federal magistrate had ordered Jones not to operate any aircraft. That order was handed down just days before the fatal crash in Cocke County. Jones is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Nevada pending his prosecution in Utah.