The two-person crew was killed in the crash. A fire broke out at the crash site and was fought over the following hours by local and military fire services. Due to the scale of the blaze, residents of more than a dozen nearby homes were evacuated. According to the Pentagon, an investigation team is expected to begin work at the crash site shortly to determine the cause of the accident.
Photo: US Department of War
The lost AH-64 Apache was based at Fort Hood, located near the crash site. The helicopter was conducting a routine training flight. It is worth noting that the installation is home to several US Army AH-64 Apache battalions. International contingents are also stationed there, including personnel from the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
Due to the availability and size of nearby training areas, numerous AH-64 Apache training flights are conducted in the Fort Hood region. The type remains the principal attack helicopter of a growing number of operators worldwide.
For the US Army, this was the third AH-64 Apache lost this year. On March 19, another aircraft crashed near Fort Rucker, Alabama, without fatalities, while on June 9 a second helicopter went down in the Strait of Hormuz. In that case, the crew was rescued by an unmanned surface vessel. It is also worth noting that the latter incident may have involved the helicopter being shot down by an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle.