A crash of a US Army helicopter on a suburban Maryland golf course has killed one crew member and seriously injured two others on Monday afternoon.
According to the Military District of Washington, an Army UH-60 Blackhawk assigned to Ft. Belvoir, VA crashed just after 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon at the Breton Bay Golf Course in Leonardtown, Maryland.
The crash has killed one crewmember while injuring two others. One was reported in serious condition and the other in critical condition at the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
“We are deeply saddened by this loss within our community,” Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker, commanding general for Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, said in the statement. “Our condolences go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy, and our team is focused on supporting them during this difficult time.”
The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Earlier Monday, a U.S. military official told NBC News the helicopter had “suffered a hard landing” near Leonardtown, and that at least one was medically evacuated to a local hospital.
A woman who lives near the golf course said she saw helicopters flying overhead. Then, one appeared to lose control.
“One of them just started to lower, and it started to spiral down, and it disappeared below the trees. It looked like it had flipped over, upside-down, and then we heard a big explosion sound,” Bianca Melton said.
Dorothy Harper, who lives across the street from the golf course, said she saw the helicopter just before it crashed.
“I was outside in my front yard when I saw the helicopter come over right across the street from my house. I saw pieces actually falling off the helicopter,” she said.
Harper said she didn’t see smoke or flames, “just pieces falling out of the sky.”
The UH-60 Black Hawk is from the 12th Aviation Battalion, stationed at Davison Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. It was the second crash in Maryland in the past two weeks.
In the other incident, a fighter jet on a routine training mission crashed in a wooded area near Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The F-16C fighter plane was destroyed but the pilot was able to safely eject from the stricken aircraft. No one was injured either in the air or on the ground in the earlier accident.
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