The second victim in Wednesday afternoon’s deadly helicopter crash in Madison County involving Tennessee National Guardsmen has been identified.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Danny Randolph, of Murfreesboro, was a 13-year veteran of the Tennessee National Guard, said Tennessee Adjutant General Brig. Gen. Warner Ross in a statement issued Thursday.
Randolph and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Daniel Wadham, a 15-year veteran of the national guard, were killed when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed Wednesday during a training flight near Madison County Highway 53 and Burwell Road in Harvest.
Both Randolph and Wadham were assigned to A-Company, I-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion that operated out of Berry Field Air National Guard Base in Nashville, said Ross.
“Words cannot express my sorrow for the loss of these two Tennessee National Guardsmen,” the adjutant general said. “It is felt not only within the ranks of the Tennessee National Guard, but across our entire military community. We ask that Tennesseans continue to join us in prayer for these soldiers’ families amid this tragic loss.”
The helicopter was approaching Huntsville Executive Airport when the Black Hawk “rapidly descended and impacted the ground,” the Tennessee National Guard said.
Randolph “always talked about being a pilot,” his mother, Patricia Randolph, told The Tennessean.
“He had such a sweet, loving personality, everybody loved Danny Randolph,” she said of her son, who attended Middle Tennessee State University to become a commercial airline pilot.. “He was just an outgoing person.”
Instead, Randolph started a family and joined the Tennessee National Guard, she said.
“He loved the National Guard,” Patricia Randolph said.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office, HEMSI, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Madison County Coroner investigated the crash, while the medical examiner for the armed services is conducting an autopsy.
There were no survivors.
Federal and state authorities are investigating the crash as of Thursday.
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