US Army Identifies 3 Soldiers Who Died in Alaska Helicopter Crash
The US Army has identified the three soldiers who lost their lives in a tragic Alaska helicopter crash near Healy Thursday, according to Fox News.
The incident involved two AH-64 Apache helicopters from Fort Wainwright, not far from Fairbanks.
The three senior enlisted soldiers who passed away in the Alaska helicopter crash have been identified as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Robert Eramo,39, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kyle D. McKenna, 28, and Warrant Officer 1 Stewart Duane Wayment, 32.
In addition to the three fatalities, one service member was injured in the crash and is currently receiving treatment at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. The Army has confirmed that the injured service member's condition is stable.
Nearly 50 miles east of Healy, the helicopters crashed on each other while returning from a training mission and on their way to Fort Wainwright.
A team from the Alabama US Army is looking at the airborne accident.
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US Army Grounded All Army Aviators
After two recent helicopter crashes resulted in the deaths of 12 soldiers, the chief of staff of the United States Army grounded all Army aviators, excluding critical missions, CNN reports.
According to the Army, the pilots are grounded until they finish the requisite training, per Chief of Staff James McConville's instruction.
McConville claimed that ensuring the safety of their aviators is their primary concern, and grounding the operations is a crucial measure to guarantee that they are taking all necessary steps to avoid mishaps and safeguard their personnel.
The Army's pilots will concentrate on safety and training protocols to guarantee our pilots and crews have the information, training, and awareness to successfully perform their assigned tasks under McConville's leadership.
The Alaska helicopter crash happened only a few weeks after two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed while on a nighttime training operation close to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, killing nine soldiers, according to the US Army.
Kentucky Black Hawk Crash
Two Army Black Hawk helicopters collided during a training exercise in Kentucky on Wednesday night, killing nine service members, authorities said Thursday morning, per NBC News.
The US Army base stated early Thursday that the incident occurred in Trigg County, west of Fort Campbell, at approximately 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET).
Officials have stated that the two HH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation aircraft participated in a training exercise.
The nine servicemen all served with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell. Due to the need to notify their families, their identities were not immediately made public.
The 101st Airborne Division's Brigadier General John Lubas reported the number of people in each helicopter as "pretty standard," with five in one and four in the other.
"This is a truly tragic loss for our families, our division, and Fort Campbell, and our number one priority is caring for the families and the soldiers within our combat aviation brigade," Lubas said.
Lubas claimed that the helicopters' pilots had night vision goggles, adding that a US Army aircraft safety team had been sent from Alabama to investigate the tragedy.
He expressed optimism that investigators can retrieve data from on-board computers, comparing them to a "black box" that would help explain the crash.
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Written by: Bert Hoover
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