Three Idaho Army National Guard soldiers were killed Feb. 2 when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a training flight near Boise, the state capital.
“All three personnel aboard were pilots with the Idaho Army National Guard participating in a routine training flight,” the Idaho National Guard announced on its Facebook page.
“This is a tremendous loss to the Idaho National Guard and our community,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Garshak, adjutant general of Idaho and commander of the Idaho National Guard. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones as we work through this tragedy.”
Col. Christopher Burt, the Idaho Guard’s state aviation officer, confirmed the aircraft was last contacted at 7:45 p.m. Once the aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter device was activated shortly after 8 p.m., Burt’s team immediately initiated emergency aircraft recovery procedures, which included air and ground search-and-rescue crews.
At 12:15 a.m., Feb. 3, crews located the downed aircraft and personnel. The cause of the accident is unknown and is under investigation.
Names of the deceased are being withheld until after next of kin have been notified.
It has been exactly two weeks since three New York National Guard aviators were killed when their UH-60 medevac helicopter crashed just south of Rochester on the bank of Lake Ontario. The loss of the aircraft and crew remain under investigation by the Army Safety Center. An investigation team remains in Rochester to conduct its analysis of the crash.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steven Skoda, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Prial, all assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 171st General Support Aviation Regiment, were killed in that crash. The three were honored with a Jan. 24 memorial service in Rochester, New York.
Shortly after the crash, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement saying he was “devastated” by the news.
“National Guard members are our citizen soldiers who voluntarily serve and protect both here and abroad, and I extend prayers and condolences from all New Yorkers to the family, loved ones and fellow soldiers of these honorable heroes who we will never forget,” Cuomo said.
