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Plane CrashesVersion 19

Army Grounds Apache Fleet After Fatal Crash Near Salado, Texas

Two U.S. Army aircrew were killed when an AH-64 Apache crashed during a maintenance test flight from Fort Hood; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 14, 2026, 10:52 p.m. ET
Developing

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

aircrew were killed when an crashed near , , on August 12, 2026, according to reporting by newsradio1410.iheart.com, khvhradio.iheart.com, patriotla.iheart.com, newsradiori.iheart.com, 570wkbn.iheart.com, 55krc.iheart.com, 590kqnt.iheart.com, 800wvhu.iheart.com, 600wmtradio.iheart.com, 600kcol.iheart.com, wmmbam.iheart.com, twincitiesnewstalk.iheart.com, kwhn.iheart.com, 1450wkip.iheart.com, kfbk.iheart.com, 945wpti.iheart.com, powertalk1460.iheart.com, wtag.iheart.com, hallelujah955.iheart.com, newsradio1170.iheart.com, wtkg.iheart.com, kfab.iheart.com and 1430kasi.iheart.com. Sources disagree on the date: wflanews.iheart.com, whyn.iheart.com, powertalk1360.iheart.com, wflafm.iheart.com, powertalk967.iheart.com, wwnc.iheart.com, talkradio1080.iheart.com and wilm.iheart.com give it as August 12, 2025. Every outlet cited here reports crew members killed, and 570wkbn.iheart.com, newsradio1410.iheart.com, khvhradio.iheart.com, 590kqnt.iheart.com, 945wpti.iheart.com, 600kcol.iheart.com, kwhn.iheart.com, kfbk.iheart.com, 800wvhu.iheart.com, 600wmtradio.iheart.com, wtag.iheart.com, newsradio1170.iheart.com and 1430kasi.iheart.com put the total dead at . The situation is still developing. The outlets report that the helicopter was from Fort Hood and was on a maintenance test flight, and that the crew members killed were Chief Warrant Officer Deontre T. Huey, 34, and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead, 25, both of whom the reporting describes as from . The Bell County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the crash damaged no buildings or structures but sparked a wildfire, which the outlets reported was still burning out of control shortly after the crash. The phase of flight has not been established. The cause has not been determined. The outlets report that the Army has launched a safety investigation led by the Combat Readiness Center to determine what happened. The outlets also report that the Army temporarily grounded all Apache helicopter flights following the crash, described in the reporting as a precautionary measure, and that Army data indicates Apaches have experienced a higher number of mishaps than other helicopters in the Army's inventory; that record says nothing about the cause of this crash. The individual aircraft has not been identified in the reporting. Registry records list one aircraft on the registry under the ; those records describe the operator's holdings and are not an identification of the helicopter involved. Geographic reference data places in Bell County, , at a settlement elevation of 614 ft, and lists it as 1.8 miles N of Airport (73TA), 4.1 miles NE of Bluffs Airport (TT61) and 12 miles ENE of Buttermilk Air Strip (81XA). That locates the town, not the accident site.

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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 1915 Aug 2026, 02:52current

    Army Grounds Apache Fleet After Fatal Crash Near Salado, Texas

  2. Version 1815 Aug 2026, 02:20

    No new facts; headline and dek clarified to lead with the crash, casualties and grounding, body unchanged in substance.

  3. Version 1715 Aug 2026, 01:58

    Corrected the operator fleet count in registry records from two aircraft to one.

  4. Version 1615 Aug 2026, 01:55

    Added wtkg.iheart.com and kfab.iheart.com to the August 12, 2026 date attribution and wwnc.iheart.com to the competing 2025 date; no change to figures or findings.

  5. Version 1515 Aug 2026, 01:52

    Updated operator fleet count from three to two aircraft per current registry records.

  6. Version 1415 Aug 2026, 01:48

    Added wtag, hallelujah955 and newsradio1170 to the date and fatality-total attributions, and removed the redundant 600kcol note on the investigation wording.

  7. Version 1315 Aug 2026, 01:44

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

  8. Version 1215 Aug 2026, 01:39

    Added powertalk1460 and 1430kasi to the outlets giving the 2026 date and the fatality total, and talkradio1080 to those giving the 2025 date.

  9. Version 1115 Aug 2026, 01:34

    Headline and dek sharpened to lead with the grounding and open investigation; body text unchanged in substance.

  10. Version 1015 Aug 2026, 01:24

    Replaced "All 22 outlets report two crew members killed" with "Every outlet cited in this story reports two crew members killed," removing the unsupported tally while keeping the fatalities.crew figure of two and its attribution intact. Added an explicit note that 600kcol.iheart.com reports the investigation statement in identical terms, so the recorded source disagreement on that item is not dropped. All other figures, names, quotes, attributions and caveats are unchanged.

  11. Version 915 Aug 2026, 01:19

    Updated source attributions to reflect all twenty reporting outlets, including the expanded list of those giving the 2025 date.

  12. Version 815 Aug 2026, 01:04

    Corrected the operator registry count to one aircraft and added 590kqnt and 800wvhu to the outlets attributed for the date and fatality totals.

  13. Version 715 Aug 2026, 00:59

    Added whyn.iheart.com as a ninth source, now a second outlet giving the 2025 date, and noted the reporting describes both crew members as from Texas.

  14. Version 615 Aug 2026, 00:54

    Corrected the outlet count to eight and added 55krc.iheart.com to the attributed reporting on the date and fatalities.

  15. Version 515 Aug 2026, 00:44

    Added 570wkbn.iheart.com to the outlets supporting the August 12, 2026 date and the two-crew fatality count (now seven outlets).

  16. Version 415 Aug 2026, 00:39

    Added a sixth reporting outlet (945wpti.iheart.com) to the date, casualty and total-dead attributions.

  17. Version 315 Aug 2026, 00:34

    Added the sourced date disagreement (wflanews.iheart.com gives August 12, 2025) and attribution for the two-fatality total.

  18. Version 215 Aug 2026, 00:30

    Added two further corroborating outlets, noted the aircraft has not been identified alongside Army registry holdings, described the grounding as precautionary per the reporting, and corrected the geographic reference bearings to match the reference data as given.

  19. Version 115 Aug 2026, 00:24

    First published.

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