Army suffers two Apache helicopter crashes within 48 hours

The Army has had two Apache helicopter crashes within 48 hours, with the latest sending two soldiers to the hospital when their aircraft went down Wednesday evening near Fort Carson, Colo., the service confirmed Thursday.  

The AH-64 Apache from the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division crashed around 6:30 p.m. during a routine training exercise. The two pilots suffered minor injuries and were taken to the on-base hospital before being released the same night, according to the Army. 

A team from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Novosel, Ala., will investigate the crash, with all aviation assets grounded at the base until further notice. 

The incident is the second Apache crash in just 48 hours, with the same helicopter model going down Monday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.  

In that accident, the two pilots were injured when their aircraft assigned to 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade crashed during a routine training exercise around 9:30 p.m., base officials said.  

That crash is also under investigation. 

The accidents follow two other Apache mishaps in February: A Mississippi National Guard Apache helicopter crashed Feb. 23, killing the two pilots aboard, and a Utah National Guard Apache went down Feb. 12, with both pilots surviving.   

Those incidents prompted the Army to ground all of its National Guard helicopter units for a safety review. 

The military has also struggled with rotary-wing aircraft accidents in the past several years, with the deadliest such crashes in November, when five soldiers were killed when their MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was downed over the Mediterranean Sea. The same month, eight Marines died in when their V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed near Japan.

And in March 2023, nine troops were killed when two Black Hawks collided near Fort Campbell, Ky.