Trump Provides Update After US Army Helicopter Goes Down Near Strait of Hormuz
An Army AH-64 Apache helicopter that went down near the coast of Oman on June 8 was recovered, and the two crew members were found and rescued from the water about two hours later. President donald Trump said the pilots were fine and not injured, citing that a Navy surface drone helped locate and rescue the crew in what was described as a first-of-its-kind operation. U.S. Central Command stated the soldiers were rescued safely and their condition was stable, while the cause of the incident is still under inquiry.The crash is reported as the first loss of an Apache in the ongoing war involving Iran, and the aircraft has recently been used to patrol the Strait of Hormuz, including counter-drone and anti-small-boat missions; it remains unclear whether the helicopter was hit by Iranian fire or failed for mechanical/operational reasons.
Soldiers aboard an Army helicopter that went down Monday near the Strait of Hormuz were recovered and are fine, according to President Donald Trump.
“The pilots are fine, nobody injured,” Trump said in New York City, where he had gone to attend an NBA playoff game, according to CNN.
U.S. Central command representative Capt. Timothy Hawkins said a Navy surface drone “found and rescued the crew from the water.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the use of a surface drone in the rescue was “a first-of-its-kind operation.”
“At 7:33 p.m. ET on June 8, two crew members from a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache were rescued by American forces after their helicopter went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters,” according to a U.S. Central Command statement posted to X.
“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition,” the post said.
“The cause of the incident is under investigation.
“Rescue efforts were led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, with support from U.S. Air Force and Navy units including U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59.”
The incident marks the first loss of an Apache helicopter in the war with Iran.
Apache helicopters are used for precision attacks, close air support, and surveillance.
It was not clear if the helicopter was hit by Iranian fire or suffered some type of mechanical or operational failure, according to The New York Times.
The helicopters have been used in recent weeks to patrol the Strait of Hormuz to shoot down Iranian drones and attack small boats launched to attack shipping passing through the strait.
“The pilots are fine. Yeah,” Trump said, according to the Associated Press. “Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine.”
On Monday, Trump said that despite repeated back-and-forth attacks in recent days, a peace deal will emerge,
“We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” he said.
“If we go and bomb — which we could do very easily if we want, and we spend another two or three weeks bombing — they’ll have nothing left whatsoever. But you won’t have the strait open for months.
“If we do the bombing, you know, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t.”
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