A troubling pattern in the skies
The US Army's fleet of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters has experienced a historically high rate of major accidents, according to a CNN analysis of military accident data. The network reports five major crashes since October, including a fatal incident in Texas that killed two soldiers and triggered a temporary halt to routine Apache training flights across most of the service.
The numbers are striking. CNN's review found that major Apache crashes are occurring at a rate of approximately 6.24 per 100,000 flying hours, based on data through mid-August. With roughly 80,171 hours flown in the current fiscal year, the year is on pace to be the second worst for Apache accidents since a new model of the AH-64 was introduced in 2011, according to the network's analysis.
The deadliest incident in the recent string occurred earlier this month near Fort Hood, Texas, when a training flight ended in a crash that killed both crew members and sparked a wildfire. The Army identified the fallen soldiers as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead.
"Our hearts and deepest condolences are with the families of the soldiers we lost Wednesday," said Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, III Armored Corps and Fort Hood commanding general, in a statement. "The Army is a family, and a tragedy like this is felt throughout our formations and our community."
Mechanical and human factors in focus
The exact causes of this year's accidents remain under investigation, but attention has turned to the Apache's transmission system. CNN reported that internal Army safety messages identified potentially faulty transmissions in some aircraft, prompting the service to ground roughly a tenth of the fleet for inspections. The network also noted that one Class A mishap—the Army's term for an accident causing death, permanent disability, loss of an aircraft, or damages exceeding $2.5 million—involved a catastrophic transmission failure.
Boeing, the Apache's manufacturer, has deployed teams to assist with transmission inspections and repairs, according to Army documents cited by CNN.
However, mechanical issues tell only part of the story. The July issue of an official Army flight safety newsletter reported that just over half of this year's Apache accidents, including less severe incidents, are primarily attributable to human error. Army leaders have previously attributed a 2024 spike in Apache accidents—the highest on record with nine major crashes—to a combination of human error, increased training intensity, and the added complexity of operations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which shifted the service's focus toward preparing for potential major conflicts.
Pause, review, and resumption
In response to the Texas tragedy, the Army announced a temporary pause on all Apache training flights, with the exception of units deployed to the Middle East. The service said the pause would allow for a thorough review of safety procedures and flight operations.
That pause proved brief. According to reporting by Fox News, the Army resumed training flights less than a week later, after concluding its review. The service said the decision came after a thorough evaluation of safety protocols, though it did not disclose the findings of that review when the resumption was announced.
Ron McCallum, a former military and commercial pilot, told Fox that the swift resumption suggested the Army had developed a working understanding of the problem. "They will have some level of knowledge mechanically at a minimum in terms of what, if anything, malfunctioned in the machine itself," McCallum said, adding that Apaches are known to be 'troublesome and difficult to fly.' He noted, "There's a lot of living parts, so things can go wrong, and when they do go wrong, they go wrong very rapidly."
As of mid-July, the cause of the transmission problems had not been publicly determined, according to the safety messages cited by CNN. Army spokesperson Maj. Montrell Russell declined to disclose preliminary findings. The Army resumed training flights for non-deployed units on Wednesday, August 20, CNN reported.