One U.S. Army soldier was killed early Wednesday during an incident involving two helicopters at Wright Army Airfield in Hinesville, Ga., approximately 40 miles southwest of Savannah.
A statement from the 3rd Infantry Division on Wednesday morning said, “One Soldier was killed in an incident involving two UH-60 helicopters at Wright Army Airfield at approximately 2 a.m. this morning. The Soldier was assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.”
The incident is under investigation. The statement added that Wright Army Airfield would be closed until further notice.
Wright Army Airfield is a joint-use airport shared by the Army at Fort Stewart, and the public under the MidCoast Regional Airport name.
The U.S. Army 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) consists of multifunctional task forces including UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and MEDEVAC helicopters, AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, and CH-47F Chinook helicopters. It is based at Hunter Army Airfield, a subordinate base of Fort Stewart located in nearby Savannah.
The 3rd Infantry Division posted a photo on Tuesday showing 3rd CAB’s air assault drill during 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry’s Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise at Hunter Army Airfield. The photo appears to involve at least one Chinook and seven Black Hawks.
Last month, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division troops from Fort Stewart to Germany to support NATO’s support and deterrence mission amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Last month, two Utah National Guard Black Hawk helicopters crashed in northern Utah near a ski area while en route to winter landing training. Video taken by bystanders showed the helicopter rotors stirring a significant amount of snow, which may have caused the pilots to lose visibility.
In October 2019, three Fort Stewart soldiers were killed in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle accident on base.
