Army
2 Army aviators injured in Apache crash at Fort Carson in Colorado
Stars and Stripes
March 28, 2024
This AH-64 Apache helicopter used during a 2011 training exercise is a model similar to one that crashed at Fort Carson, Colo., on March 27, 2024. Two soldiers were hospitalized with minor injuries in the Colorado crash, which is the second Apache incident this week. (Dustin Senger/U.S. Army)
A Wednesday evening crash of an Army AH-64 Apache helicopter at Fort Carson, Colo., that hospitalized two soldiers with minor injuries was the second time in three days the military experienced a problem involving the helicopter.
The crash occurred around 6:30 p.m. during routine training in a southern training area of the base, and the two soldiers were treated at a local hospital, base officials said in a statement.
The aviators were released later the same day, a Fort Carson spokesman said.
The helicopter was assigned to the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.
An team from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Novosel, Ala., will investigate the incident and all aviation assets on Fort Carson have been grounded until further notice, base officials said.
The Colorado crash comes on the heels of an incident at Joint Base-Lewis McChord, Wash., on Monday, when an Apache from the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade had what officials called an “aviation mishap” during routine training.
Last month, the Army National Guard grounded its helicopter fleet to review safety policies and procedures in the wake of crashes of AH-64D Apache helicopters Feb. 12 in Utah and Feb. 23 in Mississippi. Two aviators were killed in the crash near Booneville, Miss.
A 2020 Army safety review highlighted the Apache helicopter’s involvement in more than a quarter of the service’s rotary-wing mishaps from 2016 to 2020, pointing to human error as a primary cause.