The U.S. Army has identified the nine soldiers who died when their two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Kentucky, March 30, 2023.
The soldiers are:
* Warrant Officer 1 Jeffery Barnes, 33, of Milton, Fla.
* Cpl. Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, 23, of Austin, Texas
* Chief Warrant Officer 2 Zachary Esparza, 36, of Jackson, Mo.
* Sgt. Isaacjohn Gayo, 27, of Los Angeles, Calif.
* Staff Sgt. Joshua C. Gore, 25, of Morehead City, N.C.
* Warrant Officer 1 Aaron Healy, 32, of Cape Coral, Fla.
* Staff Sgt. Taylor Mitchell, 30, of Mountain Brook, Ala.
* Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rusten Smith, 32, of Rolla, Mo., and
* Sgt. David Solinas Jr., 23, of Oradell, N.J.
The Army said the four soldiers piloting the two helicopters were Esparza Smith, Barnes and Healy.
“This is a time of great sadness for the 101st Airborne Division. The loss of these Soldiers will reverberate through our formations for years to come,” said Maj. Gen. JP McGee, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell.
“Now is the time for grieving and healing,” he added. “The whole division and this community stand behind the families and friends of our fallen soldiers.”
The soldiers and medical evacuation helicopters were assigned to the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Ky. The crash happened about 30 miles northwest of Fort Campbell, in Trigg County, Ky.
An aircraft safety team, from Fort Rucker, Ala., is in Kentucky to investigate the cause of the incident.
Army officials have said the two helicopters were on a regular training exercise, and the soldiers were using night vision goggles.
Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 101st Airborne deputy commander, said March 30, it is unclear what caused this crash.
“This was a training progression, and specifically they were flying a multi-ship formation, two ships, under night vision goggles at night,” Lubas said. He said officials believe the accident occurred when “they were doing flying, not deliberate medical evacuation drills.”
Both helicopters have a ‘black box’ on board, similar to those installed on commercial airliners. The ‘box’ records the performance of the aircraft in flight and will be used by investigators.
“We’re hopeful that will provide quite a bit of information of what occurred,” Lubas said.
This is the second Black Hawk incident that resulted in death. In February 2023, a Black Hawk crashed along an Alabama highway, killing two Tennessee National Guard pilots.
“Anytime there’s an accident it is incredibly unfortunate and something we take incredibly seriously,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters after the incident. “Unfortunately, a lot of what we do is inherently dangerous.”
“This is something that we’re always going to constantly be working at,” he said.
