Three Army soldiers are dead after two Apache helicopters crashed following a training exercise in Alaska on Thursday.
The crash happened near Healy, Alaska, and involved four service members and two AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 11th Airborne Division’s 25th Aviation Regiment. According to Captain Molly Treece, the survivor was transported to a hospital in Fairbanks.
“This is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division,” Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, said in a statement from the Army. “Our hearts and prayers go out to their families, friends, and loved ones, and we are making the full resources of the Army available to support them.”
One of the pilots died while being transported to the hospital while the other two died at the scene of the crash.
The cause of the crash, which took place not far from Denali National Park and Preserve, is being investigated by experts from the Army Combat Readiness Center in Fort Novosel. The names of the soldiers who died will not be disclosed until their families have been notified.
This is the second Army helicopter crash in Alaska this year, with an incident in February when two soldiers were injured shortly after an Apache took off from Talkeetna and the helicopter crashed.
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Last month, two Army HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Kentucky during a training exercise, resulting in the deaths of nine service members. The nine service members involved were identified as Staff Sgt. Joshua Gore, 25; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Zachary Esparza, 36; Sgt. David Solinas Jr., 23; Staff Sgt. Taylor Mitchell, 30; Sgt. Isaac J. Gayo, 27; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rusten Smith, 32; Warrant Officer Aaron Healy, 32; Cpl. Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, 23; and Warrant Officer Jeffery Barnes, 33.
That crash occurred at around 10:00 p.m. local time between two helicopters that were part of the 101st Airborne Division. The crash took place in Trigg County, near Fort Campbell.
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.