SASless
12th Jul 2005, 23:01
FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - One crew member was killed and the other injured when an Apache helicopter crashed during training at the U.S. Army's Fort Hood in central Texas, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
The AH 64-D Apache Longbow helicopter went down on Monday evening, but the cause of the crash was not yet known, the 4th Infantry Division said.
Division spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington said the injured crew member was treated and released from a Fort Hood hospital.
The helicopter, which flies with a two-man crew, was participating in individual crew-level flight training, he said.
The aircraft was one of 48 Apache Longbow gunships to arrive from the Boeing Co. production line in Mesa, Arizona, within the last year, Withington said.
A team is being formed to investigate the crash, but Withington said the division's confidence in the aircraft has not been shaken by the crash.
The Apaches are heavily used in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide air support for ground operations.
In November 1999, the Army grounded part of its Apache fleet for a time after six of them crashed that year and a defective tail rotor component was found.
Monday's crash is the second in eight months for the 4th Infantry. On Nov. 29, a Black Hawk helicopter struck a television tower in heavy fog and crashed, killing seven soldiers, including a general.
The AH 64-D Apache Longbow helicopter went down on Monday evening, but the cause of the crash was not yet known, the 4th Infantry Division said.
Division spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington said the injured crew member was treated and released from a Fort Hood hospital.
The helicopter, which flies with a two-man crew, was participating in individual crew-level flight training, he said.
The aircraft was one of 48 Apache Longbow gunships to arrive from the Boeing Co. production line in Mesa, Arizona, within the last year, Withington said.
A team is being formed to investigate the crash, but Withington said the division's confidence in the aircraft has not been shaken by the crash.
The Apaches are heavily used in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide air support for ground operations.
In November 1999, the Army grounded part of its Apache fleet for a time after six of them crashed that year and a defective tail rotor component was found.
Monday's crash is the second in eight months for the 4th Infantry. On Nov. 29, a Black Hawk helicopter struck a television tower in heavy fog and crashed, killing seven soldiers, including a general.