An army helicopter on a medevac mission crashed at Fort Polk army base in Louisiana and left three wounded and one dead with an investigation pending.
The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was dispatched to pick up a soldier with heat exposure on Thursday morning, Sept. 26.
Immediately after the mishap, the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk issued a statement on Facebook:
“Early this morning, an Army helicopter accident occurred in the JRTC and Fort Polk training area. Emergency services immediately responded to the 1-5 Aviation Battalion (Fort Polk based unit) accident scene. Four crew members were on board the helicopter; one is deceased and three were injured. Names will not be released until notification of the next of kin is complete. The cause of the accident is under investigation.”
Gov. John Bel Edwards expressed his condolences in a statement: “Our hearts are heavy after learning of this morning’s tragic crash and the loss of one soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country and our state. We can never fully repay these the soldiers for their brave service,” he said. “The men and women of Fort Polk play a critical role in the readiness of our armed forces, and we are praying for their entire community. Donna and I ask the people of Louisiana to please join their prayers to ours for the deceased soldier, those injured and their families during this difficult time.”
Fort Polk is located approximately 160 miles northwest of Baton Rouge and houses about 8000 military personnel. It serves as a training center for preparing soldiers for combat situations.
Kim Reischling, a Fort Polk spokeswoman, told Army Times, “One of their biggest missions on Fort Polk is to fly medevac and they were on their way to pick up a routine injury out in the training area,” she said. “There are accidents out there, minor ones, soldiers get overheated, soldiers sprain their hands, stuff like that.”
The circumstances that led to the accident are still under investigation. “We have personnel from Fort Rucker, the Army Aviation Safety Center, who are in-route here to Fort Polk to begin the investigation,” Reischling said.
The family members of those involved were notified the same day. The identity of the deceased soldier will be released on Friday, Sept. 27.
