'Until cause is known: US Army temporarily halts Apache training missions after Texas crash

On Friday, the US Army temporarily suspended all Apache helicopter training missions following a crash in Texas that claimed the lives of two soldiers. The Army stated that the stand-down would continue until the cause of the accident was understood.

The crash investigation is still in its early stages, with a team from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, examining the circumstances surrounding the incident. However, the Army did not mention any suspension of Apache combat missions currently being conducted in the ongoing war in Iran. The helicopters have been operating in the Strait of Hormuz as part of efforts to maintain navigable channels.

The victims of the Texas crash were identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T Huey, 34, from Killeen, Texas, and Warrant Officer Seth L Olmstead, 25, from Belton, Texas. Both were assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Huey had been in the Army since 2014, while Olmstead enlisted in 2023. They were the only two individuals on board the helicopter when it crashed near Salado, approximately 48 kilometers from Fort Hood.

The Army has faced criticism over its aviation safety practices in the past. Following a collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet in January 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) criticized the Army for failing to identify certain safety risks associated with the highly congested airspace around Washington, DC.

The incident resulted in the deaths of all 67 people aboard both aircraft. Fort Hood, one of the largest US military bases, has witnessed multiple deadly accidents, including a Black Hawk helicopter crash during a training exercise in November 2015 that killed four soldiers, and another incident in 2024 where a vehicle was swept into a rain-swollen creek, resulting in the deaths of nine soldiers.