Nine dead in crash of two US military helicopters
The accident took place while the helicopters were flying in formation at night using night vision goggles, Brigadier General John Lubas said at a press conference Thursday morning.
Nine soldiers died when two US Army helicopters crashed on Wednesday during a nighttime flying exercise in the United States, a spokesperson said Thursday.
The two Black Hawk helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division crashed at around 10 p.m. State of Kentucky.
Nine soldiers died in the crash, Lt. Col. Anthony Hoefler confirmed.
Both aircraft were Black Hawk HH-60s, a model designed by a Lockheed brand Martin for medical evacuations, each carrying up to 11 people, crashed in Trigg County, northwest of Fort Campbell, where the 101st Airborne Division is headquartered.
The accident took place while the helicopters were flying in formation at night using night vision goggles, Brigadier General John Lubas said at a press conference Thursday morning.
Four passengers were in one of the aircraft and five in the other, crews of the usual size including a pilot, co-pilot or chief of staff; crew, and often a doctor as well as other servicemen, he detailed.
Despite the loss [of our soldiers], we were lucky because they were able to land in an open area not far from a residential area. So fortunately, there were no additional casualties or injuries as a result of this crash, the brigadier general said.
A checkpoint near the site where two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Cadiz, Kentucky.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement that he was saddened by the tragic loss and said he is working with the leadership of the military to making sure our troops and their families get everything they need after this accident.
We stand in solidarity with the relatives of the victims after this terrible, truly terrible accident, for her part indicated the spokeswoman for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre.
The circumstances of the crash, including the possibility of a collision between the two aircraft, have not yet been determined.
A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, during a joint exercise between South Korea and the United States at a military training ground.
Des Aircraft safety investigators have been dispatched from Fort Rucker, Alabama, and may arrive later in the day, Brigadier General John Lubas said. And I think we will quickly understand better what could have contributed to this accident, he added.
The two helicopters simply disappeared from the sky. There was a flash of light, for his part explained a witness quoted by the MSNBC channel. We saw another helicopter hovering over the area for probably 30 minutes, then we saw ambulances and [heard] sirens…
The family notification process is ongoing , said Brigadier General John Lubas.
We love Fort Campbell, we love everyone who lives and works there. They are part of our community, of who we are. Their mourning is our mourning, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at the press conference.
He had announced on Twitter to go to the military base to support our troops and their families after the tragic accident last night.
A Black Hawk helicopter had already crashed in mid-February in Alabama, in the southern United States. United, killing the two occupants on board.
The aircraft, belonging to the Tennessee Air National Guard, was also making a training flight, near a #x27; a highway and another road axis. The reasons for the crash had not been communicated at the time.
And a US Army training plane had crashed in September 2021 in Texas, which forced its two pilots to eject. The two soldiers had to be hospitalized.
