According to Army officials, an accident involving two Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters engaged in a nighttime training exercise in Kentucky resulted in the deaths of nine persons.
The deaths occurred during a regular training mission in southwest Kentucky on Wednesday night, according to Nondice Thurman, a Fort Campbell spokesperson.
The two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, a component of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed at approximately 10 p.m., according to a statement from Fort Campbell. Wednesday in Kentucky’s Trigg County. The collision, which occurred around 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Fort Campbell, was confirmed by the 101st Airborne.
The crash is being looked into.
According to Brig, no one was hurt when the helicopters crashed in a field close to a neighborhood. Gen. John Lubas, the deputy commander of the 101st Airborne. According to Lubas, one chopper had five persons on board, and the other had four.
Regarding whether the helicopters collided in the air, an Army spokeswoman declined to comment.
In a statement sent via email on Thursday afternoon, Daniel Matthews, a public affairs officer for the 101st Airborne Division, stated that “at this time, there is no determination on the specifics involving the accident.” According to Matthews, a Fort Rucker, Alabama, aviation safety team will look into the incident.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the state would do all in its power to assist the families of those deceased during a news conference on Thursday morning.
“We’re going to go as usual. We will embrace these families and be there for them today, and in the upcoming days, weeks, months, and years, Beshear said.
It is unclear what caused the incident, according to Lubas.
They were especially flying two ships in a multi-ship formation at night while using night vision goggles, according to Lubas.
Authorities, according to him, “think the accident happened as they were doing flying, not intentionally doing medical evacuation drills.”
The black boxes aboard passenger flights, which record an aircraft’s performance while in flight and are used by investigators to examine crashes, are comparable to the equipment found on helicopters.
We’re expecting that will reveal many details about what happened, added Lubas.
For the United States, the Black Hawk helicopter is a vital workhorse. Army and is utilized for a variety of duties, including search and rescue, medical evacuations, security, and transportation.
Many people are familiar with helicopters because of the horrific conflict in the 2001 film “Black Hawk Down,” which occurred eight years earlier in Somalia.
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