On March 29, 2023, two

Sikorsky HH-60 Blackhawk Sikorsky or Sikorski may refer to: * Sikorsky (comics), a Marvel Comics character * Sikorsky (crater), a lunar crater * Sikorsky Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer People with the surname * Brian Sikorski (born 1974), Major League Basebal ...

helicopters, both operated by the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

, collided over

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Div ...

Trigg County Trigg County is a county located on the far southwest border of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,061. Its county seat is Cadiz. Formed in 1820, the county was named for Stephen Trigg, an officer in the ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, United States. All nine servicemembers were killed. The

black box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

es belonging to the helicopters were found, as well as

night-vision goggles A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD) or night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The ...

used by the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s during the exercise.

Crash

The crash occurred at around 11 pm ( EDT), during a routine training mission over Trigg County, Kentucky. Both helicopters were operated by the

. The crash occurred just west of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

post of

, near the Kentucky-

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

border. A local witness, James Hughes, stated that the helicopters had been flying "pretty low" over local homes when the collision occurred. The weather at the time of the crash was clear. Early in the morning of 30 March 2023, the 101st Airborne confirmed that there had been a number of casualties. A US Army soldier at the scene informed the local

WKDZ-FM WKDZ-FM (106.5 Hertz, MHz) is a radio station licensed in Cadiz, Kentucky. WKDZ-FM is owned by Ham Broadcasting. Beth Mann serves as Ham Broadcasting owner/president. The station's studios are located in a facility at Broadbent Square along U ...

radio station that there had been several fatalities and that the county

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

had been called. The

Kentucky State Police The Kentucky State Police (KSP) is a department of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the official State Police force of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The department was founded in 1948 ...

(KSP) were called at around 10:15 (EST), and rushed to an area of woods and fields. Sarah Burgess, a spokesperson for the KSP, stated that multiple agencies were participating in the investigation, and also stated that no residential areas had been affected.

Prior incidents

The incident was not the first air collision in the vicinity of the post; in March 1988, 17 servicemen were killed when two HH-60 Black Hawks collided doing routine night maneuvers. In 1996, six 101st Airborne Division servicemen were killed when two Army Black Hawk helicopters collided near the post. In 2015, two pilots were killed following a helicopter crash during training. In 2017, four pilots were injured in a similar incident, and in 2018, a helicopter crash nearby killed two people.

Victims

There were no survivors of the incident; all nine servicemen perished. They were: WO1 Jeffrey Barnes, CPL Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, CW2 Zachary Esparza, SGT Isaacjohn Gayo, SSG Caleb Gore, WO1 Aaron Healy, SSG Taylor Mitchell, CW2 Rusten Smith, and SGT David Solinas Jr. Three servicemembers were posthumously promoted as follows: * CPL Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, promoted to Sergeant. * CW2 Zachary Esparza, promoted to Chief Warrant Officer Three. * WO1 Aaron Healy, promoted to Chief Warrant Officer Two.

Response

Kentucky governor

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

announced the incident on Twitter soon after it occurred, stating that fatalities were expected. US Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...

of Kentucky said that he was "devastated", and that his team was in contact with the US Army and authorities on the ground.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Campbell mid-air collision, 2023 2023 in Kentucky 101st Airborne Division Accidents and incidents involving the Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk Aviation accidents and incidents in Kentucky Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2023 March 2023 in the United States Mid-air collisions involving military helicopters Mid-air collisions in the United States Trigg County, Kentucky Accidents and incidents involving United States Army aircraft

Crash

Prior incidents

Victims

Response

See also

References