2 National Guard Pilots Who Were Killed in Blackhawk Helicopter Crash on Ala. Highway Identified
Tennessee Military Department
The two national guard pilots who died after a helicopter crashed on an Alabama highway have been identified.
The Tennessee National Guard said in a release on Thursday that Chief Warrant Officer 3 Daniel Wadham and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Danny Randolph "were both killed when their UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed during a training flight near Highway 53 and Burwell Road in Huntsville."
Wadham is from Joelton, Tennessee, and had served for 15 years. Randolph, a Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native was in the service for 13 years. They were both assigned to A Company, 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion under the Berry Field Air National Guard Base in Nashville.
"Words cannot express my sorrow for the loss of these two Tennessee National Guardsmen," said Brig. Gen. Warner Ross in the release. "It is felt not only within the ranks of the Tennessee National Guard, but across our entire military community. We ask that Tennesseans continue to join us in prayer for these soldiers' families amid this tragic loss."
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The Tennesee National Guard explained that the helicopter was heading toward Huntsville Executive Airport "when the aircraft rapidly descended and impacted the ground."
The agency first confirmed it had lost two of its own without identifying the men in a news release, on Wednesday which stated the Blackhawk helicopter was on a training mission when it crashed around 3 p.m. local time.
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"It was destroyed beyond recognition," Don Webster, the community relations director for Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, told the Tennessean.
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The cause of the crash is currently unknown, but the helicopter caught fire upon impact.
Local and federal officers are looking into the incident.
Per the AP, Blackhawk helicopter crashes during training exercises have occurred several times in recent years. In 2022, whiteout conditions caused a Blackhawk helicopter pilot to crash into another helicopter near a Utah ski resort. No one was injured in the incident.
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Three Idaho Army National Guard pilots died in 2021 when their Blackhawk helicopter crashed during a training flight near Boise, AP reported.
In 2020, two soldiers were killed and three were injured when their Blackhawk helicopter went down during training off the California coast.
