BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — On Friday, 5 service members were killed after their helicopter experienced an in-flight emergency while refueling mid-air. 

What You Need To Know

  • Five Fort Campbell members passed away on Friday in a helicopter crash

  • The crash happened during an in-flight emergency while refueling mid-air

  • The soldiers that passed away were: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen Dwyer, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes, Staff Sergeant Tanner Grove, Sergeant Andrew Southard and Sergeant Cade Wolfe 

  • This is the fourth helicopter crash involving U.S. members and the second involving U.S. service members and the second involving troops stationed at Fort Campbell

The service members were the following: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen Dwyer, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes, Staff Sergeant Tanner Grove, Sergeant Andrew Southard and Sergeant Cade Wolfe. They were all assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, based out of Fort Campbell. 

The crash happened during a routine training exercise. Lieutenant Gen. Jonathan Braga, Commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, released a statement, which said in part: “We mourn the loss of these five incredible soldiers, each of them a national treasure. They hail from rare patriotic families with deep military service ties that span multiple generations and formations.”

Spectrum News 1 stopped by a local military surplus store to see the community’s reaction.

“Soldiers make a lot of sacrifices, and their families make a lot of sacrifices as well. So, it hurts a lot when something like this happens,” shared Larry Cottrell, owner of Freedom Surplus & Veteran Supply Store.

However, this is not the first year U.S. military personnel died while operating in training conditions. Friday’s crash was the fourth helicopter crash involving U.S. members and the second involving troops stationed at Fort Campbell in 2023.

The other incident occurred on March 29 in Trigg county, Kentucky, when two Blackhawk helicopters collided in mid-air during a night time training mission, killing all nine crew members on board.

Furthermore, in February, two Tennessee national guardsmen were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter went down during a training flight in Northern Alabama. 

In April, two Apache helicopters collided during a training exercise while returning to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. Three of the four crew members on that mission were killed while the fourth was injured.

Cottrell says in times like this, is when soldiers really band together.

“In times like this, everyone comes together as a family. Everyone kind of mourns together,” Cottrell said.

The Army’s Combat Readiness Center says it’s conducting an investigation of Friday’s crash.

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