An Army AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed during a training exercise in Washington state over the weekend and investigators are still trying to determine what went wrong, service officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The helicopter was carrying two soldiers from the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade from Joint Base Lewis-McChord when it went down near the Yakima Training Center late Saturday, the service said. It was the second Army helicopter to crash in less than three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crash took place during training, the base said, and both soldiers were rushed to a hospital. One was released early Sunday, and the other remains in the hospital, an Army statement said. That soldier\u2019s condition was not disclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur No. 1 priority at this time is ensuring our pilots receive the medical care they need, while simultaneously caring for their families,\u201d said Army Col. Derek Smith, commander of the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joint Base Lewis-McChord is about 10 miles southwest of downtown Tacoma and 35 miles southwest of Seattle. The base is home to several Army and Air Force units and the Yakima Training Center \u2014 a 327,000-acre complex that has 25 ranges and a \u201cshoot house\u201d that allows service members to train individually or in groups, according to its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The base did not identify the two soldiers who were aboard the helicopter when it crashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are prepared to support these soldiers and their family members with all the resources at our disposal while we conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of this training accident,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AH-64 Apache is one of the Army\u2019s most widely used attack helicopters since it entered service in the mid-1980s, and Saturday\u2019s crash was the second involving an AH-64 Apache in just 16 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two Apache helicopters collided in midflight<\/a> and crashed in east-central Alaska on April 27 while returning to Fort Wainwright from a training mission, killing all three aboard. That accident came just weeks after another deadly collision in Kentucky between two Army Black Hawk helicopters that killed nine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n