Two US Army helicopters crash in Alaska, killing 3 soldiers

An AH-64D Apache helicopter. Photo / Getty Images

Two US Army helicopters collided and crashed today in Alaska while returning from a training flight, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth.

Two of the soldiers died at the scene of the crash, near Healy, and a third died on the way to hospital in Fairbanks, the army said. A fourth soldier was being treated in hospital for injuries.

The names of those killed were being withheld until relatives could be notified, the army said.

Each AH-64 Apache helicopter was carrying two people at the time of the crash. The helicopters were from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment at Fort Wainwright, based near Fairbanks.

“This is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division,” Major General Brian Eifler, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, said. “Our hearts and prayers go out to their families, friends and loved ones, and we are making the full resources of the army available to support them.”

The army said the cause of the crash was under investigation and more details would be released when they became available.

The crash is the second accident involving military helicopters in Alaska this year.

In February, two soldiers were injured when an Apache helicopter rolled after taking off from Talkeetna. It was one of four travelling to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage from Fort Wainwright.

In March, nine soldiers were killed when two US Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters crashed during a routine night-time training exercise about 48 kilometres northeast of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Healy is located about 16 kilometres north of Denali National Park and Preserve, or about 402km north of Anchorage.

Healy is a community of about 1000 people on the Parks Highway in Alaska’s interior. It is a popular place for people to spend the night while visiting the nearby park, which is home to Denali, North America’s highest mountain.

Healy is also the town closest to the former abandoned bus popularised by the book Into the Wild and the movie of the same name. The bus was removed and taken to Fairbanks in 2020.