SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, (THEWILL) – One crew member died and two others were injured after a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter crashed at a golf course in Leonardtown, Maryland, during a routine training flight shortly before 2 p.m on Tuesday.
The survivors, in critical and serious condition respectively, were transported to the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, the Army said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, the Army said.
“We are deeply saddened by this loss within our community,” said Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker, commanding general, Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington.
“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 UH-60 Blackhawk, from the 12th Aviation Battalion, was stationed at Davison Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Meanwhile, another twelve people were killed after a police helicopter crashed in Turkey’s eastern province of Tunceli.
This was confirmed by the Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, in Ankara on Tuesday who said there were no survivors of the crash, and the bodies of the passengers and crew members were found by rescue teams.
Tunceli Governor, Osman Kaymak, announced in a statement that a Turkish police helicopter carrying 12 people, including one judge, seven police officers, one sergeant and three crew members, crashed in Tunceli on Tuesday.
The helicopter crashed into a rural area at an altitude of 2,500 km between Cambulak and Kocatepe villages, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
Contact with the Sikorsky helicopter was lost at 11:50 a.m. local time, according to officials, as no signals were received from the helicopter approximately 10 minutes after it took off.
Teams from the AFAD were dispatched to the mountainous rural area of Tunceli’s Cambulak district to conduct search efforts.
The Turkish air force also dispatched a CN235 type aircraft to detect the location of the debris.
The rescue teams reached the helicopter wreckage after battling with poor weather conditions for almost four hours.
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