Two soldiers killed in Kentucky copter crash: army

Two US soldiers with an airborne combat brigade died when their Apache helicopter crashed during a routine training mission at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the army reported Saturday.

The incident involving an AH-64E Apache helicopter occurred late Friday, said a statement from the army's 101st Airborne Division. The crash is under investigation.

The names of the victims are being withheld pending notification of family members, the army said. There were no other casualties.

"This is a day of sadness for Fort Campbell and the 101st Airborne," Brigadier General Todd Royar, acting senior commander of the 101st Airborne and of Fort Campbell, said in a statement.

The deaths were the latest in a recent rash of military crashes that has claimed five other lives and left one man injured.

Four Marines died Tuesday in the crash of their Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter during a practice landing in El Centro, California.

A member of the air force's elite Thunderbird squad died Wednesday when his F-16 jet crashed near Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas as he prepared for an air show.

And a Marine pilot was injured Tuesday after ejecting from his McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II attack jet while taking off from an airport in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa.

One dead in Italian navy helicopter crash
Rome (AFP) April 6, 2018 - An Italian Navy helicopter crashed in the Mediterranean during a night-time training exercise, killing one, the navy said on Friday.

Andrea Fazio, an experienced flight operator based in Catania, Sicily, died after the helicopter crashed into the sea and flipped onto its side as it prepared to land on a patrol boat, the navy said in a statement.

Divers rushed to pull Fazio from the chopper but were unable to revive him. The four other crew members aboard the helicopter escaped without major injuries.

The patrol boat was part of the "Mare Sicuro" (Secure Sea) navy operation in the central Mediterranean.

It was launched in March 2015 to protect oil rigs and fishing boats from ruthless Libyan militias, as well as to combat people trafficking.

The navy has also rescued thousands of migrants during its operations, either by taking them on board or by assisting other rescue ships.

Their onboard helicopters often carry out emergency medical evacuation operations.

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