All 4 Dead in Army Helicopter Crash

(AP)  The Army says four soldiers died after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed on Colorado's second-highest mountain.

The helicopter crashed Wednesday afternoon near the summit of 14,421-foot Mount Massive. The Army's Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., announced the deaths Thursday.

The Army initially said two were killed, one was injured and one was missing. The missing man was found later. It wasn't clear when he and the soldier who was reported injured had died.

Lt. Col. John Clearwater says all were males from Fort Campbell, Ky. Their names haven't been released.

The cause of the crash hasn't been released. The helicopter was on a training mission 85 miles southwest of Denver.

Clearwater said an investigation team from Fort Bragg was at the crash site Thursday.

The Denver Post reported the Black Hawk's flight recorder was recovered.

It wasn't clear where the flight originated. An official at the Colorado Army National Guard's High-Altitude Aviation Training Site near Gypsum, about 45 miles northwest of the crash, said the helicopter didn't take off there. Officials at Fort Carson, 90 miles east of the crash, also said the flight didn't originate there.

The helicopter was assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) at Fort Campbell. Soldiers in the 160th are known as "night stalkers" because they specialize in nighttime operations, according to the military.

The regiment's Web site says the 160th has carried out combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Army didn't elaborate on the purpose of the Colorado maneuvers.

The MH-60 Black Hawk is frequently used for infiltration missions and to bring supplies to special operations forces in the field, according to the unit's Web site. The helicopter is also used for rescue and medical evacuations, and an armed version is used for escort and fire support.

[Benton09]

After recent events, being in a helicopter these days is a gamble.
Are the parts coming from China or something?

[underdogus09]

nope they come from GM

[paddyhayes]

We used to call them Crash Hawks.

That's why we were in such a hurry to rappel out of them...