2 soldiers die in helicopter crash, bringing to 7
the number killed in military aviation mishaps this week
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By LUIS MARTINEZ
Apr 7, 2018, 1:59 PM ET
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STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
A pair of AH-64D
Apache Longbow helicopters taking off on a mission in support of exercise Angel
Thunder 2013.
Two soldiers were killed in a
training flight of an Apache attack helicopter at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The two
deaths in the crash Friday night brings to seven the number of service members
who have died just this week in three military aviation crashes in the United
States. Two other aviation mishaps in the east African nation of Djibouti resulted in no casualties.
An Army
statement on the most recent crash said, "At approximately 9:50 p.m.
Friday, two soldiers of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne
Division (Air Assault) were killed in an AH-64E Apache helicopter crash
in the local training area on Fort Campbell."
The cause is under investigation.
STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
U.S .Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter in flight in this
undated stock photo.
“This is a day of sadness for Fort
Campbell and the 101st Airborne, “ said Brigadier Gen. Todd Royar,” acting
senior commander of the 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell. “Our
thoughts and prayer are with the families during this difficult time.”
The fatal mishap follows two other
deadly military aviation crashes in the last five days.
On Thursday, an F-16 crashed near
Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, killing Maj. Stephen Del Bagno, a member of
the Air Force's elite Thunderbirds flight-demonstration team.
Two days
earlier, on Tuesday, a Marine CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed near El
Centro, California, during a training flight. Four Marines died: Capt. Samuel
A. Schultz, 28; First Lt. Samuel D. Phillips, 27; Gunnery Sgt. Derik R. Holley,
33; and Lance Corp. Taylor J. Conrad, 24.
STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
AH-64 Apache helicopter sits on the runway during flight operations in
Conroe, Texas in this undated stock photo.
Two other nonfatal aviation mishaps
also occurred on Tuesday. A Marine AV-8B Harrier jet crashed on takeoff from
the airport in Djibouti City. The pilot suffered no injuries after ejecting
from the aircraft. Later that day, a Marine CH-53E helicopter carried out a
“hard landing” at a beach near the capital city. There were no injuries.
A senior military official was asked
Thursday if this week's string of crashes might be a sign of systemic problems
in military aviation.
"I don't have anything on --
for you right now, that should say those are necessarily linked," Lt.
General Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff said at a Pentagon news
conference." "But [we] always look at linkages. We always look at
multiple causalities. We always look at that very hard."
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