A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter conducts low-level flight operations over mountain terrain, May 26, 2026. A U.S. Army Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz on June 8, 2026; both crew members were safely rescued, with President Donald Trump confirming the pilots were uninjured. (Keith Garner/U.S. Army)
Two crew members have been safely rescued after a U.S. Army Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.
President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said Iran shot down the helicopter and that both service members are safe and uninjured.
“Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” Trump wrote.
The aircraft went down Monday evening near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on X.
Within two hours, rescue crews from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division retrieved the two crew members, who are now in stable condition.
The two crew members were located by an unmanned surface vessel, or drone boat, from the Navy’s Task Force 59, CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins confirmed to Stars and Stripes.
Hawkins said the 24-foot unmanned boat used to perform the rescue was a Corsair manufactured by Saronic Technologies, The Associated Press reported.
The drone-assisted rescue is an apparent first for the Navy and the task force, which focuses on integrating unmanned systems and artificial intelligence with maritime operations for the 5th Fleet.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation, CENTCOM said.
U.S. forces have continued to operate in and around the Strait of Hormuz even after a ceasefire in the war with Iran took effect in April. Their mission includes defending commercial and military vessels from attacks and holding a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
For weeks, U.S. officials have signaled that a peace deal is near, but talks have been stalled by intermittent fighting. The war began in late February with strikes by the U.S. and Israel that killed a number of Iran’s top leaders.
Iran retaliated by attacking American military bases in the Middle East and choking off traffic in the strait, which is a major sea lane for oil shipments.
Sunday marked one of the most serious days of fighting between Iran and Israel after tensions in Lebanon escalated.
Iran insists Lebanon is party to the ceasefire deal and has rebuked Israel’s continued campaign against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed paramilitary group in the country. The two countries agreed to pause their fighting after the U.S. intervened on Monday.
Trump said Monday the U.S. is “two or three days” away from having a “very, very good, strong, powerful deal” with Iran.
The U.S. can resume bombing “very easily,” but doing so would cause more casualties and likely further delay reopening the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
“If we do the bombing, a lot of people are going to be killed,” Trump said. “Who wants to do that? I don’t.”
