FirstAlerts
Plane CrashesVersion 33

Two Army Pilots Named in Fatal Apache Crash Near Salado, Texas

Fort Hood-based helicopter came down in a field on August 12, killing both crew members and sparking a wildfire; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 13, 2026, 11:37 a.m. ETUpdated Aug 15, 2026, 4:26 a.m. ET
Developing

This is a developing story. Details reported early are provisional and are frequently revised. Where sources disagree, both readings are given.

pilots were killed when a U.S. Army AH-64 crashed near , on August 12, 2026, according to CBS Austin, US105FM, Newsweek, CBS News, the New York Post, News4SanAntonio and Fox San Antonio. AvWeb and the Hindustan Times described the aircraft more specifically as an , while KXXV described it simply as an . On the timing, CBS Austin, News4SanAntonio, Fox San Antonio and ABC7 Amarillo put the crash at ; Newsweek reported , the New York Post and AvWeb , while US105FM said only that it happened that afternoon. CBS Austin reported crew members were aboard and both were killed, and that a Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesperson it identified as Cliff Coleman said the pilots were confirmed dead around :30 p.m. The New York Post reported no injuries on the ground. The Hindustan Times reported the pilots were identified as Chief Warrant Officer Deontre T. Huey, 34, of Killeen, Texas, and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead, 25, of Belton, Texas, both assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. Earlier coverage from CBS Austin, Newsweek, KXXV, AvWeb, CBS News and the New York Post had reported that the Army was withholding the names until 24 hours after notification of next of kin. The cause has not been determined. News4SanAntonio and Fox San Antonio reported ; CBS Austin and ABC7 Amarillo reported Fort Hood described it as an ongoing and developing situation. US105FM reported that the Army Criminal Investigation Division was deployed to the scene to assess the wreckage, determine the flight path and establish the cause — that is the investigating body's stated task, not a finding. AvWeb reported that Fort Hood's Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation, and the New York Post reported that Coleman said Fort Hood is leading it and that the cause has not been released. The Hindustan Times reported that a safety investigation team from the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, arrived on August 13 to lead the investigation. Brig. Gen. Ethan Diven, Fort Hood's acting commanding general, said the immediate priority is securing the site. Gov. Greg Abbott said the crash occurred in Bell County during Fort Hood operations, killing members of the military. CBS Austin reported the helicopter was from the 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, and described the AH-64 Apache as a two-person Army attack helicopter, with the pilot in the rear and the co-pilot/gunner in front; the Hindustan Times attributed the aircraft to the . Some coverage described the aircraft as being on a routine training flight out of Fort Hood, while other reporting said it was not immediately clear where the helicopter was coming from or where it was headed, or whether it was en route to or from the post in Killeen. CBS News reported Fort Hood is near Killeen, roughly 70 miles north of Austin. Reporting placed the crash site in a field about 20 miles from Fort Hood, about half a mile west of the 16400 block of Kuykendall Road in Bell County, south of Salado; the New York Post reported the helicopter went down in a field off Dove Hollow Lane, roughly 30 minutes from Fort Hood. The aircraft has not been identified by registration; registry records list three aircraft under the U.S. Army, which is not an identification of the helicopter involved. The helicopter came down in an open field and did not hit any homes, other structures or people on the ground, according to a Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesperson identified as Bill Coleman by CBS News; CBS Austin reported that CBS Austin reported that Coleman said evacuations were underway, with residents south of FM 2843 being evacuated, and that of the scene he said, "You could tell it was a violent crash." The crash sparked a grass fire, named the Dove Hollow Fire by the Texas A&M Forest Service, that was uncontrolled Wednesday afternoon; CBS Austin reported it had burned an estimated 100 acres and was 45% contained as of a 5:28 p.m. update, per the Forest Service. CBS News reported the fire was still burning out of control as of about 3:30 p.m. local time and that a tanker aircraft dumped fire retardant on a field southwest of Salado; the New York Post reported it remained uncontrolled as of 4 p.m. ET, citing Coleman. Salado Fire and Bell County ESD No. 1 asked people to avoid FM 2843, calling it impassable, and the New York Post reported the road was shut down near the crash site. KXXV later reported the fire burned approximately 155 acres and was fully contained by the afternoon of Thursday, August 13, with officials anticipating 100 percent control by about 5 p.m. Sunday; the calendar date of that Sunday has not been established from the available reporting. Five homes and nine outbuildings were reported threatened but saved, with the one structure lost described in one account as a shed and in another as an outbuilding. More than 200 firefighters from 22 agencies responded, along with about 100 law enforcement personnel from nine agencies, working in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, low humidity and gusts exceeding 30 miles per hour, KXXV reported. Weather observations recorded at Skylark Field (KILE), 13.1 miles away and 21 minutes from the reported time of the crash, showed wind from 170 degrees at 10 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear skies and a temperature of 95°F; that is an instrument measurement, not a statement by anyone, and is not indicated as a factor. Geographic reference data places Salado in Bell County at a settlement elevation of 614 feet, 1.8 miles north of Salado Airport (73TA) and 4.1 miles northeast of Salado Bluffs Airport (TT61). No investigative findings have been announced.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Terrain elevation
614 ft
Nearest aerodrome
1.8 miles N of Salado Airport (73TA)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 3315 Aug 2026, 08:26current

    Added the pilots' identifications and unit per the Hindustan Times, and the Army Combat Readiness Center safety team's August 13 arrival to lead the investigation.

  2. Version 3214 Aug 2026, 16:49

    No new facts; condensed the operator paragraph and tightened attribution wording throughout.

  3. Version 3114 Aug 2026, 16:44

    Added that the crash site was in a field about 20 miles from Fort Hood, dated full containment of the Dove Hollow Fire to Thursday, August 13, noted the shed/outbuilding discrepancy in loss reporting, and added investigators' statement that no people or structures were struck.

  4. Version 3014 Aug 2026, 02:23

    Added KXXV's later fire figures (155 acres, 100 percent contained, structures threatened and saved, responder counts, firefighting conditions) and dropped the 'developing situation' line from the lead.

  5. Version 2913 Aug 2026, 15:43

    Replaced the bare "the Army said" attribution with an introduction of the U.S. Army as the operator of Fort Hood and the 1st Cavalry Division at the top of paragraph three, and attributed the withholding of the pilots' names to the ten outlets that reported it, keeping the 24-hour next-of-kin condition intact. Restored the full CBS Austin/ABC7 Amarillo wording on the investigation status ("with additional information to be released as available") alongside the competing News4SanAntonio/Fox San Antonio wording. No figures, times, codes or disagreements were altered or dropped.

  6. Version 2813 Aug 2026, 08:24

    Added ABC7 Amarillo to the attribution for Fort Hood's "ongoing and developing situation" characterization; no new facts otherwise.

  7. Version 2713 Aug 2026, 07:53

    No new facts; text unchanged from v26.

  8. Version 2613 Aug 2026, 06:53

    No new facts reported; headline and dek clarified, text otherwise unchanged.

  9. Version 2513 Aug 2026, 06:28

    No new facts; added crew-seating detail and that no people on the ground were struck, and clarified the Dove Hollow Fire naming attribution.

  10. Version 2413 Aug 2026, 06:13

    No new facts; text unchanged apart from headline and dek refinement.

  11. Version 2313 Aug 2026, 05:22

    No new facts in this update; headline and dek tightened, story otherwise unchanged from v22.

  12. Version 2213 Aug 2026, 04:53

    No new facts reported; clarified that the weather observation is an instrument reading rather than a statement by anyone.

  13. Version 2113 Aug 2026, 04:50

    No new facts reported; minor wording tightening in the investigation paragraph.

  14. Version 2013 Aug 2026, 04:28

    No new facts; story carried forward unchanged with headline and dek retained.

  15. Version 1913 Aug 2026, 04:23

    No new facts in this update; text unchanged from v18 apart from headline and dek.

  16. Version 1813 Aug 2026, 04:19

    No new facts reported; headline and dek clarified, wording tightened.

  17. Version 1713 Aug 2026, 03:48

    Added the sheriff's office spokesperson's statement that the two pilots were confirmed dead around 2:30 p.m.

  18. Version 1613 Aug 2026, 03:24

    No new facts on the record; text carried forward unchanged with headline and standfirst added.

  19. Version 1513 Aug 2026, 03:22

    No new facts; headline and dek added, body unchanged.

  20. Version 1413 Aug 2026, 02:58

    No new facts; headline and dek added, story text unchanged.

  21. Version 1313 Aug 2026, 02:53

    No new facts; text unchanged apart from added headline and dek.

  22. Version 1213 Aug 2026, 02:52

    No new facts; added Abbott's statement that two military members were killed and minor wording tightening.

  23. Version 1113 Aug 2026, 02:34

    No new facts; headline and dek rewritten to foreground the investigation status, body text otherwise unchanged.

  24. Version 1013 Aug 2026, 02:30

    Added that the Texas A&M Forest Service is assisting the fire response; minor tightening.

  25. Version 913 Aug 2026, 02:15

    Updated Fort Hood's stated posture to the best-supported version — that the incident remains under investigation with more information to follow — alongside the competing 'ongoing and developing situation' wording, and added the additional outlets reporting the time and fatalities.

  26. Version 813 Aug 2026, 01:58

    Added the 5:28 p.m. timestamp on the 45% containment figure and the report that it was unknown whether the flight was to or from the post in Killeen.

  27. Version 713 Aug 2026, 01:49

    Added the reported crash-site location near the 16400 block of Kuykendall Road and the detail that residents south of FM 2843 were being evacuated.

  28. Version 613 Aug 2026, 01:25

    Added New York Post reporting: 1:34 p.m. time, no injuries, Fort Hood leading the investigation with cause not released, crash site off Dove Hollow Lane, FM 2843 shutdown and fire uncontrolled as of 4 p.m. ET; noted KXXV's wording of the aircraft type.

  29. Version 513 Aug 2026, 01:14

    Added Gov. Greg Abbott's statement that the crash occurred in Bell County during Fort Hood operations.

  30. Version 413 Aug 2026, 01:09

    Added Newsweek's reported time (shortly after 1:30 p.m.) to the time range and a sourced quote from the Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesperson.

  31. Version 313 Aug 2026, 00:55

    Added Army CID deployment and Brig. Gen. Diven statement, CBS News details (tanker drop, 3:30 p.m. fire status, field impact, Fort Hood location), noted time-of-crash and spokesperson-name discrepancies, added operator fleet note, and corrected aerodrome bearings.

  32. Version 213 Aug 2026, 00:46

    Added the fire's name (Dove Hollow Fire), its estimated 100 acres and 45% containment, the Bell County Sheriff's Office statement on evacuations, Fort Hood's description of the situation as ongoing, and that the flight's origin and destination were not immediately clear.

  33. Version 113 Aug 2026, 00:24

    First published.

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