Two dead after military helicopter crashes during training flight in Mississippi

Two soldiers were killed during a training flight Friday when their military attack helicopter crashed near the small city of Booneville, Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves said.

“Mississippi will always be grateful for their service and we will never forget them,” Reeves said on social media platform X.

The victims have not been publicly identified, but the Mississippi National Guard said one was a member of its A Company 1-149 Aviation Regiment Unit while the other was assigned to its D Company 2-151 Lakota Medical Evacuation Unit.

“Our paramount concern at this time is to ensure proper casualty assistance is conducted to support the surviving family members,” the Mississippi National Guard said.

The two-seat AH-64 Apache was on a routine training flight when it was reported down in a wooded area about 2 p.m., the Mississippi National Guard said in a statement.

The sheriff of Prentiss County, Randy Tolar, told NBC affiliate WLBT of Jackson that the aircraft went down off Highway 30 near Mount Olive Baptist Church.

The church is in the town of Baldwyn, which is in Prentiss and Lee counties in northeast Mississippi. Baldwyn is about 11 miles south of Booneville.

Shortly before the crash, at least two wind gusts measuring 21 mph were registered in Booneville, according to National Weather Service data. The temperature was 64 degrees.

On Feb. 6, a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter traveling from Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, crashed amid a winter storm, killing all five U.S. Marines on board, officials said.

And in April 2023, two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters returning to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska, after a training flight collided, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth, the 11th Airborne Division said

The Mississippi incident is under investigation, the Mississippi National Guard said.