Two Blackhawk helicopters from Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division crashed over Trigg County, Ky., on Wednesday night, killing the nine crew members on board.
The Army says the pilots were conducting a routine training mission in a pair of HH60 Blackhawk helicopters when the crash occurred about 30 miles northwest of the fort around 10 p.m.
At a briefing at 9 a.m. Thursday, officials said they did not yet know the cause of the collision and will be bringing in a specialized team from Alabama to examine the crash site.
“At this point, we don’t know. We’re hopeful that when we get the team from Fort Rucker here and they’re able to pull some of the data out of the onboard computers that we’ll have a better understanding of exactly what happened,” said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 101st Airborne deputy commander.
Lubas called the wreck a tragic loss and said the Fort Campbell community will be, “surging resources and support” to the families of those who died.
“Today is a tough, tragic day,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. He promised to “wrap our arms around these families.”
Congressman Mark Green, R-Clarksville, said his heart aches for the families.
“Fort Campbell is one of the closest-knit communities we’ve ever been a part of, and we know this loss is being felt heavily,” Green said. “These moments serve as a stark reminder that freedom is never without sacrifice.”
Soldiers identified
The names of the Fort Campbell soldiers killed in Wednesday’s crash were released Friday.
The nine soldiers, all between the ages of 23 and 36, hailed from all across the country. All were members of Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division.
They include: Warrant Officer 1 Jeffery Barnes, 33, of Milton, Florida; Cpl. Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, 23, of Austin, Texas; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Zachary Esparza, 36, of Jackson, Missouri; Sgt. Issacjohn Gayo, 27, of Los Angeles, California; Staff Sgt. Joshua C. Gore, 25, of Morehead City, North Carolina; Warrant Officer 1 Aaron Healy, 32, of Cape Coral, Florida; Staff Sgt. Taylor Mitchell, 30, of Mountain Brook, Alabama; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rusten Smith, 32, of Rolla, Missouri; and Sgt. David Solinas Jr, 23, of Oradell, New Jersey.
Witness describes crash
Nick Tomaszewski, who lives about a mile from where the crash occurred, told the Associated Press 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.
Officials say the pilots were able to control their descent enough that they came down in an open area, avoiding additional injuries. Other aircraft were part of the training, and remained overhead. Officials say the typical crew configuration on board a Blackhawk includes a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, medics and other personnel.
Training incidents claim lives
It’s not uncommon for Army helicopters to go down during training exercises.
In 2018, two Fort Campbell soldiers died in a late night crash. In 2015, two pilots died in an Apache crash.
Between 1990 and 1999, seven Fort Campbell helicopter crashes resulted in 22 deaths and dozens of injuries, according to news accounts.
Last month, two Tennessee National Guard pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway during training.
This is a developing story that was last updated at 12:05 p.m.
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