The US Army has announced on Thursday that it has experienced two crashes involving Apache helicopters in less than 48 hours, the most recent of which sent two soldiers to the hospital when it went down Wednesday night close to Fort Carson, Colorado.
During a regular training operation, the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division’s AH-64 Apache crashed at approximately 6:30 p.m. According to the Army, the two pilots were taken to the on-base hospital with minor injuries and were released the same evening.
All aircraft assets are grounded at the base until further notice while an investigation into the collision is conducted by a team from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Novosel, Alabama.
The identical helicopter model crashed on Monday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, marking the second Apache tragedy in as many days.
Around 9:30 p.m., during a normal training exercise, the aircraft belonging to 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade crashed, injuring both pilots, according to base officials.
The crash is being investigated as well.
The incidents come after two earlier February disasters involving Apache helicopters: on February 23, a Mississippi National Guard helicopter crashed, killing both of its pilots; on February 12, a Utah National Guard Apache went down, but both of its pilots survived.
The Army grounded all of its National Guard helicopter units in order to conduct a safety evaluation as a result of those accidents.
The deadliest of these mishaps occurred in November, when five troops lost their lives after their MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down over the Mediterranean Sea. The US military has also experienced difficulties with rotary-wing aircraft accidents during the past few years. Eight Marines lost their lives in a V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft disaster in the vicinity of Japan in the same month.
Moreover, a collision between two Black Hawks in March 2023 in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, claimed the lives of nine soldiers.