Nine U.S. soldiers were killed late Wednesday when two Army helicopters crashed following an apparent collision in southwestern Kentucky, triggering an investigation and a sprawling effort to notify the families of those involved, Army officials said Thursday.
The soldiers, members of the 101st Airborne Division, were aboard HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters conducting a training exercise in Trigg County, to the west of Fort Campbell, Army officials said. The crash occurred at about 10 p.m. local time.
Five personnel were aboard one aircraft and four were aboard the other, with the pilots relying on night vision at the time, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the division’s deputy commander, said during a news conference. Black Hawks typically fly with a pilot, a co-pilot and a crew chief, and can carry as many as 12 people.
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The incident highlights the dangers of military aviation, even during training exercises. Between 2013 and 2020, 224 U.S. service members were killed in such accidents, according to a report commissioned by Congress.
Officials did not immediately identify the crash victims, pending the notification of their families.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a statement, praised those “who bravely and proudly serve our country each and every day.” He called the incident “tragic” and said, “I am working with Army leadership to make sure our troops and their families receive the care that they need in the wake of this accident.”
Army officials said they did not yet clearly understand how the accident occurred, Lubas told reporters. No distress calls were heard from either aircraft, which went down in a field near a residential area, he said. The Army is working to recover data from both helicopters, with a team of safety investigators traveling to the crash site from Fort Rucker in Alabama.
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“We hope to have them on the ground later [Thursday],” Lubas said. “They’re bringing a diverse and talented team that will look at every possible contributing factor.”
The assignment was seemingly routine, with the aircraft departing Fort Campbell and flying in a two-ship formation, as Black Hawks frequently do, the general said. The 101st Airborne Division specializes in air assaults.
Fort Campbell spans more than 105,000 acres and straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
A Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, told reporters that military officials underscore the importance of safety in their units.
Share this articleShare“Unfortunately, a lot of what we do is inherently dangerous, and so this is something that we’re always going to be constantly working it,” he said.
Ryder, asked if other helicopters could be grounded as a result of the Army investigation, said he didn’t want to answer hypothetical questions about the incident.
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“We need to allow time for the investigation to run its course,” he said. “During the course of that investigation, were we to become aware of a need to do that or there was something that was systemic, then certainly that’s a step that could be taken.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) joined Lubas at Thursday morning’s news conference and said the soldiers will be mourned and missed by their families and communities.
“We are blessed to live in the freest country in the history of planet Earth, but we must remember … that freedom relies on those who are willing to serve, some of which paid the ultimate price,” Beshear said.
Beshear said he had talked to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) and promised that there will be “no state lines” in caring for the families involved. Many Fort Campbell soldiers live in Tennessee. First responders came from across the region after the crash, Beshear said.
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Described by the U.S. military as a “major maneuver installation,” Fort Campbell is home to the Army’s most-deployed contingency forces, with a military population of more than 27,000 soldiers, according to a Defense Department website. Other major units at the installation include the 5th Special Forces Group and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Collisions between military aircraft, while rare, have claimed the lives of several service members in recent years.
In 2016, for instance, two Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters collided off Oahu in Hawaii, killing 12. The service later determined in an investigation that the trailing aircraft had crashed into the lead one as they were flying in formation about 10:30 p.m.
In 2018, a Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornet collided with a KC-130J Super Hercules during a refueling mission off Japan, killing all five Marines on the tanker plane and one of two service members in the fighter jet.
Black Hawk helicopters flying from Fort Campbell collided in 1988, killing 17 soldiers. Another collision involving helicopters from the fort killed six in 1996.
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