Three US attack helicopter operators died when their plane crashed in central Alaska while returning from a training flight, the Washington Post reported late Thursday (Friday morning Greek time), citing military sources.

Two Fort Wainwright-based Apache AH-64s “crashed (…) near Hilly, Alaska while returning from a training flight,” the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Brigade command said in a press release.

Emergency teams are on site. The incident is under investigation and additional information will be published as soon as it becomes available,” the statement said, but did not specify whether there were victims and how many of them, as well as the causes of the accident.

The Apache crew consists of two people, consisting of a pilot and a sensor and weapons operator. It is not known at this stage if the fourth soldier was injured or if he is safe.

This is the second such accident in less than a month.

In late March, nine US military personnel were killed when two US Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed during nighttime classes at a high school in Kentucky (center).

In addition, another Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Alabama (south) in mid-February, killing two passengers.

This last helicopter, owned by the Tennessee Air National Guard, was also on a training flight near a freeway and another highway. The causes of the accident are not reported.

Source: RES-IPE