BREAKING NEWS
The two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed around 10 p.m. in Trigg County near the Tennessee border, officials at nearby Fort Campbell said early Thursday. They were taking part “in a routine training mission when the incident occurred,” the base said in a statement.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a later statement on Thursday that he was “saddened by this tragic loss” and was working with the Army to “make sure our troops and their families receive the care that they need in the wake of this accident.”
“My heart goes out to the families of these servicemembers and to the members of the 101st Airborne Division who bravely and proudly serve our country each and every day,” he said.
The helicopters were medical evacuation aircraft, and it’s believed the crash happened while they were flying and not during a medical evacuation drill, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, deputy commander of the 101st Airborne Division, said during a Thursday morning news conference at Fort Campbell.
The aircraft went down in an open field across from a residential area, so no additional casualties or injuries were reported, he said.
The aircraft went down in an open field across from a residential area, so no additional casualties or injuries were reported, he said.
Army Brigadier General John Lubas, the division's deputy commanding officer for operations, said little was known so far about why the helicopters came down and he acknowledged he was not even sure whether they crashed into each other.
Brig. Gen. John Lubas, with the 101st Airborne Division, said there were five people in one helicopter and four in the other, which he described as “fairly typical.”
Brig. Gen. John Lubas, with the 101st Airborne Division, said there were five people in one helicopter and four in the other, which he described as “fairly typical.”
The Black Hawks that crashed were two of four total helicopters taking part in the training exercise, according to 101st Airborne Division spokesman Staff Sgt. Joshua Tverberg. One helicopter had stopped to refuel, and another was ahead of the two that went down.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a later statement on Thursday that he was “saddened by this tragic loss” and was working with the Army to “make sure our troops and their families receive the care that they need in the wake of this accident.”
“My heart goes out to the families of these servicemembers and to the members of the 101st Airborne Division who bravely and proudly serve our country each and every day,” he said.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Named after the Native American war leader Black Hawk, the UH-60A entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979, to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois as the Army's tactical transport helicopter.
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