Published May 01. 2023 10:44AM
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Two U.S. Army helicopters that crashed last week in Alaska, killing three soldiers, collided over a rugged, mountainous area, and there were no weather issues or visibility problems at the time, an Army spokesperson said.
The two AH-64 Apache helicopters were returning to Fort Wainwright from an aerial gunnery range southeast of Fairbanks when they collided.
Killed were Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Robert Eramo, 39, of Oneonta, New York; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kyle D. McKenna, 28, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Warrant Officer 1 Stewart Duane Wayment, 32, of North Logan, Utah.
A fourth soldier survived and remained hospitalized Sunday, said John Pennell, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Alaska.
Investigators planned to fly on Monday morning to the accident scene.
- The Associated Press
In this photo released by the U.S. Army, AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, fly over a mountain range near Fort Wainwright, Alaska, on June 3, 2019. The U.S. Army says two Army helicopters similar to the ones in this picture crashed Thursday, April 27, 2023, near Healy, Alaska, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth. The helicopters were returning from a training flight to Fort Wainwright, based near Fairbanks. (Cameron Roxberry/U.S. Army via AP)
FILE - This photo provided by Fort Wainwright Public Affairs Office shows a recently installed new sign at the main entry point to U.S. Army Garrison Alaska Fort Wainwright on April 5, 2023, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The U.S. Army says three soldiers have been killed and another has been injured after two helicopters collided and crashed in Alaska while returning from a training flight, Thursday, April 27, 2023. The helicopters were from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment at Fort Wainwright, based near Fairbanks. (Eve Baker/Fort Wainwright Public Affairs Office, File)
FILE - Brig. Gen. John Lubas address the press in regards to the Black Hawk helicopter crash, Thursday, March 30, 2023, outside of Fort Campbell in Christian County, Ky. There have been three U.S. military helicopter crashes and a rollover recorded so far this year, in Alabama, Kentucky, and Alaska. Two of the crashes involved Black Hawk helicopters; the third crash and the rollover involved Apache helicopters. (Liam Kennedy /The Tennessean via AP)