The Black Hawk Training Mishap That Killed Nine Us Army Personnel Has Been Identified

The nine troops who perished in a nighttime training mishap on Wednesday evening when two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed in a field close to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, have been identified by the US Army.

An Army news release identified the soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division who were killed in the incident as Warrant Officer 1 Jeffrey Barnes, 33; Cpl. Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, 23; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Zachary Esparza, 36; Sgt. Isaacjohn Gayo, 27; Staff Sgt. Joshua Gore, 25; Warrant Officer 1 Aaron Healy, 32; Staff Sgt. Taylor Mitchell, 30; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rusten Smith, 32; and Sgt. David Solinas Jr., 23.

This is a time of great sadness for the 101st Airborne Division.” According to Maj. Gen. JP McGee, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), “The loss of these Soldiers will reverberate through our formations for years to come.” 

As per Reports of CNN.com,

“Now is the time for grieving and healing. The whole division and this community stand behind the families and friends of our fallen Soldiers.”

At around 10:00 p.m. local time, the medical evacuation helicopters crashed in an open field next to a neighborhood while on a regular training operation. The crash resulted in the deaths of all nine service members aboard the two planes.

_Nine Soldiers Killed in Black Hawk Training Accident
_Nine Soldiers Killed in Black Hawk Training Accident

Four helicopters in total participated in the exercise on Wednesday, according to Staff Sgt. Joshua Tverberg, the spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division, talked with CNN on Thursday. Tverberg claimed that one Black Hawk was refueling and another was passing in front of the two that crashed as they were flying side by side.

The cause of the crash is yet unknown; an investigation team from Fort Rucker, Alabama, is now on the scene, the Army stated on Friday. The nine soldiers that died were from a variety of social backgrounds.

Discover a ton of Useful Information Check Out a Few of These Articles for Further Reading:

According to service records released by the Army, Barnes, an aeromedical evacuation pilot, enlisted in the Army from Florida in 2010 and later deployed to Afghanistan with the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade.

Bolanos, a UH-60 helicopter repairer and aircrew member from the Philippines who enlisted out of Texas in 2019 and participated in Atlantic Resolve in 2020, spent nine months in Germany. Esparza, a native Texan, joined the military in Missouri in 2010 and has been the brigade’s instructor pilot since October 2021.

Gayo, who was also born in the Philippines, enlisted in the Army in California in 2019. Gore had been a flight paramedic with the brigade since May 2022 after enlisting in the Army in 2015.

_Nine Soldiers Killed in Black Hawk Training Accident
_Nine Soldiers Killed in Black Hawk Training Accident

Healy joined the Army in 2010, and since 2022, he has worked for the brigade as an aeromedical evacuation pilot. In addition to working for the brigade as a flight paramedic, Mitchell enlisted in 2014.

In addition to two deployments to Afghanistan and a nine-month rotation in Germany in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, Smith, a Florida native, joined the Army in 2012. He served as an instructor pilot in the brigade. Flight paramedic Solinas joined the organization in 2018.

Since a Black Hawk crashed off the coast of Florida in 2015, killing 11 service personnel, Wednesday’s mishap was the deadliest aviation training incident.

The California Examiner is a great source for breaking news, so be sure to save it as a bookmark on your browser.

Scroll to Top