2 pilots killed in Tenn. helicopter crash

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Two pilots flying an AH-64D Apache from Fort Campbell were killed when the helicopter crashed during a training exercise Wednesday.

The news release about the two pilots came early Thursday morning after the helicopter went down at about 7 p.m. in Montgomery County.

Fort Campbell Spokesman Maj. Allen Hill confirmed that the two-person helicopter of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade went down during "routine training" 12 miles south of Fort Campbell.

The helicopter was found in the rural Fredonia community of Montgomery County near Gholson Road, just south of Johnson Road.

Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department searched across the county before the crash site was found.

There has been no determination of the cause of the accident and it is currently under investigation by the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center, according to the release.

The names of the two pilots are being withheld pending notification of kin.

Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency Director Jerry Buchanan said the helicopter was found crashed in a river bottom near Gholson Road and was on fire when first responders arrived.

"We put the fire out," Buchanan said. "We can't say whether there are fatalities.There are about 30 to 40 emergency workers on site."

The crash is one of at least three Army helicopter crashes that have occurred during training in the last month.

Four crew members died when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed on the Fort Hood range, Army officials said early Nov. 24. Two U.S. pilots were killed Nov. 23. when a military helicopter crashed near Wonju, South Korea, during a routine training mission, the Pentagon said.

A four-wheel drive mini-pumper that carries 400 gallons of water at a time was used to put out the fire of the crashed helicopter in Montgomery County.

Among the 30 to 40 people on scene, were St. Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department, Montgomery County Rescue Squad, Montgomery County Emergency Management, Montgomery County EMS and the Red Cross.

At 11 p.m. Wednesday, the county had pulled all but the mini-pumper, tanker and a crash truck with extrication tools and turned the investigation over to the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Campbell.

Media reporting on the crash Wednesday night were moved to a staging area at the nearby Bethlehem Methodist Church.