Two National Guardsmen die in Mississippi helicopter crash

Two Mississippi National Guardsmen are dead after their helicopter crashed during a training flight Friday in Mississippi, according to the state’s Gov. Tate Reeves (R). 

The two-seat AH-64 Apache crashed in rural Prentiss County in the northeast corner of the state around 2 p.m. while on a routine training flight, Reeves wrote on X. 

“Tragically, both Guardsmen on board did not survive. Safety crews are currently working the scene of the crash with local authorities,” Reeves wrote. “Mississippi will always be grateful for their service and we will never forget them.” 

The crash marks the third major military helicopter mishap in the past month. 

Last week, a Utah National Guard AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed near Salt Lake City, though the two pilots survived.   

And earlier this month a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter carrying five Marines crashed during a storm in the mountains outside San Diego, killing all onboard.  

Rotary wing crashes have plagued the military in the past several years, including a March 2023 crash that killed nine soldiers when two Army Black Hawk helicopters collided outside of Fort Campbell, Ky., one of the deadliest training incidents in the service’s history.  

Another Black Hawk crash in February 2023 killed two Tennessee National Guard soldiers, a 2021 crash involving the same aircraft killed three New York Guardsmen, and another Black Hawk crash in 2015 killed four Louisiana Guardsmen and seven Maines.   

In addition, an Osprey crash in Japan in November killed all eight airmen on board.  

Updated: 8:13 p.m.