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Plane Crashes

Two soldiers killed in Army AH-64 Apache crash near Salado, Texas

The U.S. Army helicopter went down about 1:34 p.m. on August 12, sparking a grass fire; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 13, 2026, 4:33 a.m. ET
soldiers were killed when a helicopter crashed near , at on August 12, 2026, according to reporting by hngn.com. The outlet reported people were aboard and both died. The situation is developing and details may change. The helicopter was the AH-64E variant based at Fort Hood, hngn.com reported. The aircraft did not strike any homes or structures, according to Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesman Cliff Coleman, as reported by the outlet. The crash sparked an uncontrolled grass fire that had burned about 155 acres and was 85% contained by roughly 6:30 p.m., per the Texas A&M Forest Service. Evacuation orders for nearby homes remained in effect Wednesday evening. The identities of the soldiers killed are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin are notified. The cause has not been determined. The Fort Hood Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation into the cause, which remained unknown as of Wednesday evening, according to hngn.com. Weather observations recorded at Skylark Field (KILE), 13.1 miles away and 22 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. The observation is an instrument reading and is not a statement by any authority about what happened. Geographic reference data places Salado in Bell County, Texas, at a settlement elevation of 614 feet, 1.8 miles south of Salado Airport (73TA) and 4.1 miles southwest of Salado Bluffs Airport (TT61). That reference data 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 Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.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 113 Aug 2026, 08:33current

    First published.

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