A helicopter crash at a military base in Alabama on Wednesday afternoon killed one person and injured another, the local county coroner who was called to the scene said.
An AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed during routine flight training on Fort Novosel Army base, about 94 miles (151 kilometers) south of Montgomery, Dale County Coroner John Cawley said. The crash killed a flight instructor who was operating the helicopter. There was only one other passenger, a student, who was being treated for minor injuries at a hospital.
Cawley identified the deceased instructor pilot as Daniel Munger, 46, who was a contractor and retired from the Army. Military authorities did not immediately provide any information about the circumstances of the crash.
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"Our primary concern is the welfare and health of the student pilot and care and concern for the family of the deceased," Maj. Gen. Clair A. Gill, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Novosel commanding general, said in a statement to news outlets.
The statement said the accident is under investigation. Fort Novosel was previously known as Fort Rucker. It is the Army's primary training facility for helicopter pilots.
Last month a tour company helicopter crashed off the Hawaiian island of Kauai, police said, killing one person and leaving two missing in the latest in a series of crashes to plague the industry in recent years.
A hiker on the Kalalau trail reported seeing the helicopter crash into the water about a quarter of a mile (0.4 kilometers) off the Na Pali Coast on Thursday afternoon and contacted the fire department, officials said. The Robinson R44 helicopter was part of Ali’i Kauai Air Tours & Charters, authorities said.
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The company bills itself as the only Hawaiian-family-owned and -operated air tour company on Kauai, and its website said it has more than three decades of flying experience. It offers private tours by plane or helicopter.
“Preliminary information indicates that the pilot on board was a local resident, and the two passengers on board are believed to be visitors from the mainland,” Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck said at a news conference Friday. Authorities did not provide their identities.
Kauai lifeguards on personal watercraft recovered one body from the water. They also saw what appeared to be an oil slick on the water, along with some small pieces of floating debris, Kauai Fire Chief Michael Gibson said. On Friday, the Kauai crews and the U.S. Coast Guard carried on their search for the two individuals in the water.
The weather at the time was normal for this time of year with winds of about 15 mph to 25 mph, light clouds and scattered showers, Gibson said: “We do not believe the weather was a concern.”
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