Nine Fort Campbell soldiers were killed when two HH60 Blackhawk helicopters crashed Wednesday night near Lancaster Road in Trigg County.
During a news conference on Fort Campbell Thursday morning, 101st Airborne Division Deputy Commanding General John Lubas said the two medical evacuation aircraft were engaged in a planned training flight when they went down in a field.
Five of the victims were on one helicopter and four on the other and post officials had begun the process of making next of kin notifications. All were Fort Campbell soldiers assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade.
Gen. Lubas says a team from Fort Rucker will investigate the crash and work to determine what may have led up to the incident.
He says the Blackhawks have devices onboard similar to black boxes installed in commercial aircraft and record data and audio from the final moments of flight.
Gen. Lubas talked about the training the helicopters were involved with.
Nothing about the training exercise was unusual, according to the general, who did not speculate on any factors that could have contributed. He said there were no emergency calls from the helicopters in the moments before the crash
He says there were other Fort Campbell aircraft in the vicinity that reported the crash immediately and post also received word from Trigg County emergency personnel almost immediately.
Governor Andy Beshear was on hand and said the people of Kentucky and Tennessee are ready to support the men and women of Fort Campbell and their families.
The governor thanked first responders from Trigg, Christian and Marshall counties who went to the scene.
Names of the victims will not be released until all of the families have been notified.
Fort Campbell High School issued a statement saying, “staff and administrators are prepared to support students, and counseling and psychological services are being made available for children, families, and staff as our communities unite to support each other.”
The tragedy is reminiscent of a March, 1988 accident on Fort Campbell, when two Blackhawk helicopters collided and killed 17 soldiers.