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Three pilots are dead after two US Army helicopters crashed on Thursday in Alaska whilst returning from a training flight.
Each helicopter carried two people, said John Pennell, a spokesperson for US Army Alaska.
It is the second such accident involving military helicopters to occur in the state this year.
First responders were on scene at the crash site, near Healy, Alaska, a statement from US Army Alaska said.
The AH-64 Apache helicopters were from Fort Wainwright, based near Fairbanks.
Officials said the crash was under investigation and more details would be released when they become available.
Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Alaska State Troopers, said the state agency was not involved in the response.
In February, two soldiers were injured when an Apache helicopter rolled after taking off from Talkeetna. The aircraft was one of four traveling to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage from Fort Wainwright.
In March, nine soldiers were killed when two US Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters crashed during a routine nighttime training exercise about 30 miles northeast of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Healy is located about 10 miles north of Denali National Park and Preserve or about 250 miles north of Anchorage. The town is a community of about 1,000 people located on the Parks Highway in Alaska’s interior region. It is a popular place for people to spend the night while visiting the nearby park, which is home to Denali, the continent’s tallest mountain.
Healy is also famous for being the town closest to the former bus that had been abandoned in the backcountry and was popularised by the book “Into the Wild” and the movie of the same name. The bus was removed and taken to Fairbanks in 2020.
Source:Daily Telegraph