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 \u201ca routine training mission\u201d using night-vision goggles over Trigg County at around 10 p.m., Fort Campbell officials said.
All nine soldiers onboard \u2014 five on one of the choppers and four on the other \u2014 were all pronounced dead at the crash scene.
\u201cDespite our losses, we were lucky because they were able to land in an open field across from a residential area,\u201d said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, deputy commander of the division known as the \u201cScreaming Eagles.\u201d
\u201cSo thankfully there were no additional casualties or injuries\u201d 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.
\u201cThis is a truly tragic loss,\u201d Lubas said of the fallen soldiers.
\u201cOur number one priority is caring for the families and the soldiers,\u201d he said, sending \u201cthoughts and prayers.\u201d
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\u2002that his \u201cprecious son\u201d Caleb Gore was one of those killed.
\u201cHe was the light of my world and I have no words to express my grief right now. My words are my tears right now,\u201d wrote the pastor at Fremont Missionary Baptist Church.
\u201cMy son and his precious wife were expecting and it is a boy,\u201d the pastor revealed of daughter-in-law Hailey Gore and the child she is expecting \u201cin about 6 months.\u201d
\u201cA little piece of my son shall live on as even my son will in my heart forever,\u201d he said of the grandson who will never meet his dad.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called it \u201ca tough and tragic day\u201d as he visited the base.
\u201cWe\u2019re going to do what we always do, we\u2019re going to wrap our arms around these families, we\u2019re going to be with them for the weeks and days to come,\u201d\u2002Beshear said.
\u201cIf they\u2019ll allow us to carry some of their grief, we\u2019ll do that for as long as we can.\u201d
Members of the Kentucky Senate also stood for a moment of silence Thursday morning in honor of the crash victims.
\u201cIt\u2019s a heavy day for the Army,\u201d 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, \u2002told local radio station WKDZ that had been flying \u201cpretty low\u201d over local homes when they collided.
\u201cAll of a sudden, as soon as they got over the house, something popped \u2014 loud bang and everything shut down all of a sudden,\u201d 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.
\u201cFor whatever reason last night my wife and I were sitting there looking out on the back deck and I said \u2018Wow, those two helicopters look low and they look kind of close to one another tonight,\u2019\u201d he said.
The helicopters flew over and looped back around and moments later \u201cwe saw what looked like a firework went off in the sky.\u201d
\u201cAll of the lights in their helicopter went out. It was like they just poofed \u2026 and then we saw a huge glow like a fireball,\u201d Tomaszewski said.
Flyovers for training exercises happen almost daily and the helicopters typically fly low but not so close together, he said.
\u201cThere 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,\u201d 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 \u201chelp us understand what caused this crash in order to help us prevent accidents like this from happening again.\u201d
Nicknamed the \u201cScreaming Eagles,\u201d 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 \u201cBlack Hawk Down.\u201d
Last month, two Tennessee National Guard pilots were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway during a training exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n