3 dead after two US Military Apache helicopters collide mid-air in Alaska

News, US April 29, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

At least three U.S. military personnel have been reported dead while one is injured after two AH-64 Apache helicopters collided and crashed in Alaska on April 28, 2023. The helicopters were returning from a training flight.

According to the U.S. Military 11th Airborne Division, “The collision took place when the two AH-64 Apache helicopters after the training were headed back to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks”. Officials said that the collision and crash took place near Healy in Alaska, a community around 80 miles southwest of Fort Wainwright.

Each of the helicopters was carrying two personnel at the time of the collision. Only one of the four people involved in the crash made it alive with severe injuries. Two solider were reported dead immediately while a third died on the way to a hospital in Fairbanks.

Commanding General of the 11th Airborne Division Major-General Brian Eifler released a statement regarding the incident saying that “this is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division”. The army said the cause of the crash was under investigation and more details would be released when they become available.

Moreover, the military went on to say that the injured soldier was being treated at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. The names of the soldiers killed in the incident were not released

The frequency of U.S. military helicopter accidents and mid-air collisions has increased drastically in recent times. This is the second accident involving Apache military helicopters in Alaska this year. In February, two soldiers were injured when an Apache helicopter rolled after taking off from Talkeetna.

*^{U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. (Image Credit U.S. Army)}*

Another incident of mid-air collision between two U.S. Army helicopters occurred only a month ago. It claimed the lives of nine U.S. soldiers. Servicemen from the 101st Airborne Division died in a midair crash that involved the collision of two Black Hawk HH-60 Helicopters. The incident took place on March 30, 2023, in the U.S. southwestern state of Kentucky.

Prior to this, another crash involving the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was reported from Alabama in February 2023. Two Tennessee National Guard servicemen were killed in the crash. The U.S. Army sees on average five deaths per year in the form of aviation accidents.

The deadliest helicopter incident for the U.S. military occurred in 2015 when eleven service members on board a Black Hawk helicopter died after it crashed off the coast during a training mission that took off from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.