FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Nine people were killed in a crash involving two Army Black Hawk helicopters in Kentucky, a military spokesperson said.
Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said Thursday morning that the deaths happened in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission.
What You Need To Know
- U.S. military officials say nine service members died when two Army helicopters crashed in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission
- A statement from Fort Campbell says the two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday in Trigg County, Kentucky
- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear had said earlier that fatalities were expected, adding that police and emergency officials were responding
- Members of the Kentucky Senate stood for a moment of silence Thursday morning in honor of the crash victims
A statement from Fort Campbell says the two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 29 in Trigg County, Kentucky. The 101st Airborne confirmed the crash about 30 mile northwest of Fort Campbell.
The helicopters crashed in a field near a residential area with no injuries on the ground, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 101st Airborne deputy commander, said. One helicopter had five people aboard and the other had four, Lubas said.
Speaking a news conference Thursday morning, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the state would do everything it can to support the families of those killed.
“We’re going to do what we always do. We’re going to wrap our arms around these families, and we’re going to be there with them, not just for the days, but the weeks and the months and the years to come," Beshear said.
Lubas said it is unclear what caused the crash.
An Army spokesperson declined to comment on whether the helicopters collided in the air. "At this time, there is no determination on the specifics regarding the accident,” Daniel Matthews, a public affairs officer for the 101st Airborne Division, said in an emailed statement Thursday afternoon.
Nine members of the 101st Airborne Division were flying a "multi-ship formation under night vision goggles" when the crash occurred, Lubas said. The crash is under investigation.
“This was a training progression, and specifically they were flying a multi-ship formation, two ships, under night vision goggles at night," Lubas said.
He said officials believe the accident occurred when "they were doing flying, not deliberate medical evacuation drills.”
The helicopters have something similar to the black boxes on passenger planes, which records the performance of aircrafts in flight and are used by investigators to analyze crashes.
“We’re hopeful that will provide quite a bit of information of what occurred,” Lubas said.
The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center (USARC) from Fort Rucker, Alabama will lead the investigation. It is the Army's safety and occupational safety organization. The USARC is made up of teams of highly 0trained investigators and experts. They are deployed worldwide following "accidents resulting in fatality or permanent total disability, property damage of $2 million or more, or Army aircraft reported as destroyed, missing or abandoned."
“The crash occurred in a field, some wooded area,” Kentucky State Police Trooper Sarah Burgess said at a news briefing. “At this time, there are no reports of residence damage.”
Fort Campbell is located near the Tennessee border, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, and the crash occurred in the Trigg County, Kentucky, community of Cadiz.
Nick Tomaszewski, who lives about a mile from where the crash occurred, said he saw two helicopters flying over his house moments before the crash.
“For whatever reason last night my wife and I were sitting there looking out on the back deck and I said “Wow, those two helicopters look low and they look kind of close to one another tonight,’” he said.
The helicopters flew over and looped back around and moments later “we saw what looked like a firework went off in the sky.”
“All of the lights in their helicopter went out. It was like they just poofed ... and then we saw a huge glow like a fireball,” Tomaszewski said.
Flyovers for training exercises happen almost daily and the helicopters typically fly low but not so close together, he said.
“There were two back to back. We typically see one and then see another one a few minutes later, and we just saw two of them flying together last night,” he said.
Members of the Kentucky Senate stood for a moment of silence Thursday morning in honor of the crash victims.
“We do not know the extent of what has gone on, but I understand it is bad and there has been a substantial loss of life of our military,” Senate President Robert Stivers told the somber chamber.
Other State Senators and Representatives also responded to the crash.
Sen. Whitney Westerfield (R-Fruit Hill) said, "People like those nine service members are putting their lives in danger and it doesn’t have to be around the world, it can be in the air over Trigg County, to practice and to be better at keeping us safe. Remember those families, remember the service members and the sacrifice they make, don’t ever hesitate to give them thanks for what they do.”
State Senator Jason Howell (R-Murray) added, “We owe the people in the armed services so much for what they do for us and we think about the obvious danger when the go into harms way in conflict, but the training exercises are lifelike too and unfortunately things go wrong in those situations as well and this is apparently what happened this morning. Obviously you remain in our thoughts and prayers for all of us. We appreciate all that you’ve done for us and the sacrifices you’ve made.”
Republican Representative Thomas Walker said, “We do mourn for the lives of these loved ones that we consider a part of our family as we’re part of one big body here, whether we differ on ideas or not, the Fort Campbell soldiers that live in our communities, go to our churches, as the gentelman from Christian 9 mentioned, they go to our schools, their kids do and this really hurts.”
The Black Hawk helicopter is a critical work horse for the U.S. Army, used in security, transport, medical evacuations, search and rescue and other missions. The helicopters are known to many people from the 2001 movie “Black Hawk Down,” which is about a violent battle in Somalia eight years earlier.
Black Hawks were a frequent sight in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan during the wars conducting combat missions and are also used by the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. They were also often used to ferry visiting senior leaders to headquarters locations in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones.
In the past three years, Black Hawk helicopters have been involved in crashes during training exercises. Last month, two Tennessee National Guard pilots were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway.
In 2022 in Utah, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot lost sight of where he was trying to land because of whiteout conditions. The pilot, participating in a training exercise, caused a crash with another helicopter near a Utah ski resort. No one either in the helicopters or skiers on the ground were jurt.
Three idaho Army National Guard pilots died in 2021 when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Boise during a training flight.
And in 2020, a pair of soldiers were killed and three others injured when the Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed during an excercise off the coast of Souther California.
The Associated Press contributed to this story