Two Army Blackhawk helicopters collided in the air above Kentucky homes during late-night training exercises, killing all nine soldiers onboard, military officials said Thursday.
The two 101st Airborne Division helicopters crashed during “a routine training mission” using night-vision goggles over Trigg County at around 10 p.m., Fort Campbell officials said.
All nine soldiers onboard — five on one of the choppers and four on the other — were all pronounced dead at the crash scene.
“Despite our losses, we were lucky because they were able to land in an open field across from a residential area,” said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, deputy commander of the division known as the “Screaming Eagles.”
“So thankfully there were no additional casualties or injuries” among local residents, he said.
It was not clear why the helicopters collided given clear visibility and low wind, and neither pilot made any distress calls, he noted.
“This is a truly tragic loss,” Lubas said of the fallen soldiers.
“Our number one priority is caring for the families and the soldiers,” he said, sending “thoughts and prayers.”
Army officials did not identify the dead pending ongoing notification of families, some of whom are not in the US.
However, North Carolina Pastor Time Gore posted on Facebook that his “precious son” Caleb Gore was one of those killed.
“He was the light of my world and I have no words to express my grief right now. My words are my tears right now,” wrote the pastor at Fremont Missionary Baptist Church.
“My son and his precious wife were expecting and it is a boy,” the pastor revealed of daughter-in-law Hailey Gore and the child she is expecting “in about 6 months.”
“A little piece of my son shall live on as even my son will in my heart forever,” he said of the grandson who will never meet his dad.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called it “a tough and tragic day” as he visited the base.
“We’re going to do what we always do, we’re going to wrap our arms around these families, we’re going to be with them for the weeks and days to come,” Beshear said.
“If they’ll allow us to carry some of their grief, we’ll do that for as long as we can.”
Members of the Kentucky Senate also stood for a moment of silence Thursday morning in honor of the crash victims.
“It’s a heavy day for the Army,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth also told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Photos from the scene showed a huge ball of flames as rescuers rushed to the wrecked HH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
One witness, Trigg County Jailer James Hughes,  told local radio station WKDZ that had been flying “pretty low” over local homes when they collided.
“All of a sudden, as soon as they got over the house, something popped — loud bang and everything shut down all of a sudden,” he recalled.
The station noted that weather conditions at the time were reported to be clear with light to no wind.
Nick Tomaszewski, who lives about a mile from the scene, said 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.
Flyovers for training exercises happen almost daily and the helicopters typically fly low but not so close together, he said.
“There were two back-to-back. We typically see one and then see another one a few minutes later, and we just saw two of them flying together last night,” he said.
Army officials said the collision is under investigation by a specialist safety team coming from Fort Rucker in Alabama.
Lubas said it was key to “help us understand what caused this crash in order to help us prevent accidents like this from happening again.”
Nicknamed the “Screaming Eagles,” the 101st Airborne Division was activated in 1942 and is the only air assault division of the US Army.
The Black Hawk helicopter is a critical workhorse for the Army, used heavily during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is known for a separate tragedy when one was shot down by Somali fighters and the basis for the 2001 movie “Black Hawk Down.”
Last month, two Tennessee National Guard pilots were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway during a training exercise.

Nypost