Two US Army Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters have collided in mid-air and crashed near Fairbanks, Alaska.
The two aircraft, from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, housed at Fort Wainwright, were returning from a training flight. For an unknown reason, the helicopters collided and crashed near Healy, 85 kilometers (52 miles) from Fairbanks.
“Two soldiers were declared dead at the scene of the crash and a third died en route to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital,” the 11th Airborne Division declared in a statement. “The fourth soldier is being treated at Fairbanks Memorial for injuries sustained in the crash.”
An investigation into the crash has been opened. This is not the first such incident involving US Army helicopters this year.
In February 2023, two US soldiers were injured when an Apache helicopter crashed after takeoff at Talkeetna Airport (TKA) in Alaska.
In March 2023, nine US soldiers were killed in the collision of two Blackhawk helicopters during a routine training mission.