The US Army has launched an investigation into the crash of two military helicopters while returning from a training mission in Alaska. The incident claimed the lives of three soldiers, while a fourth soldier sustained injuries.
The US Army helicopter crash incident in Healy, Alaska, took the lives of two of the troops; the third passed away en route to a hospital in Fairbanks. The US Army said that a fourth service member had been injured and receiving medical care, AP News reported.
The US Army stated they were withholding the victims' identities from the helicopter crash so they could contact their families.
The Army has said that the investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing and that further information will be provided when it becomes available. A team from Fort Novosel in Alabama will carry out the investigation.
John Pennell, a spokesman for the United States Army Alaska, said earlier on Thursday that each AH-64 Apache helicopter was carrying two troops at the time of the incident.
The helicopters were from the Fort Wainwright-based 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment.
Assistance Extended To The Crash Victims' Families
Major General Brian Eifler, the 11th Airborne Division's commander, sent his condolences to the victims' loved ones and fellow service members, according to NPR.
The military official noted that the US Army helicopter crash incident is an unfathomable loss for the families, comrades, and division of the departed soldiers. Maj. Gen. Eifler added that the US Army is extending its "entire resources" to support the helicopter crash victims' friends and loved ones.
The Emergency Assistance Center at Fort Wainwright has been established to help the troops, relatives, and friends of those who perished in the US Army helicopter crash in Alaska, per CBS 7.