Two Army HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed Wednesday night in Kentucky during a training exercise, resulting in the deaths of nine service members.
Few details have been released about the crash, which occurred at around 10:00 p.m. local time between two helicopters that are part of the 101st Airborne Division. The crash took place in Trigg County, near Fort Campbell.
“The crewmembers were flying two HH60 Blackhawk helicopters during a routine training mission when the incident occurred. The status of the crew members are unknown at this time,” the 101st Airborne Division announced in a statement. “The command is currently focused on caring for the servicemembers and their families.”
The division initially confirmed that there were several “casualties,” and an Army official later told ABC News that everyone on board both helicopters had died.
“We’ve got some tough news out of Fort Campbell, with early reports of a helicopter crash and fatalities are expected. @kystatepolice, @KentuckyEM and local officials are responding. We will share more information as available. Please pray for all those affected,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on Twitter.
Early Thursday morning, Beshear said that he would be going to Fort Campbell in response to the crash. “This morning I will be traveling to Fort Campbell to support our troops and their families after last night’s tragic incident. More information will be released later this morning,” he said.
According to Kentucky State Police, the crash took place in the woods. Fort Campbell will have a press conference Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. to provide further details about the incident.
Kentucky local Nick Tomaszewski told WSMV that he heard the crash happen after he saw the helicopters fly by. “So it’s nothing out of the norm to see helicopters, we see them all the time, but tonight there were two that were coming kind of straight up over our house, headed straight northbound,” he said. “I told my wife, ‘wow, those look really close tonight’ for whatever reason … about a minute later, they were coming across and there was a large explosion in the sky almost look like a firework went off. And then the entire tree line lit up.”