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Plane CrashesVersion 4

Two U.S. Army soldiers killed in Apache helicopter crash near Fort Hood, Texas

The crash occurred August 12, 2026, and the cause remains under investigation.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 14, 2026, 10:30 p.m. ETUpdated Sep 2, 2026, 11:26 a.m. ET
soldiers were killed when an crashed near Fort Hood, Texas, on August 12, 2026, according to multiple outlets. Most outlets described the aircraft as an , while the Chicago Tribune reported it as an and The Dallas Express as an . The Dallas Express reported the crash occurred at . The operator was reported as the by most outlets and as the by the Times of India. The soldiers were identified as Chief Warrant Officer Deontre T. Huey, 34, and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead, 25, assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesman Cliff Coleman described the incident as a "violent crash" and said the helicopter did not strike any homes or other structures. The crash ignited a large grass fire and sparked a wildfire that forced the evacuation of several homes. The Dallas Express reported the impact ignited the Dove Hollow Fire, burning approximately 155 acres. Brig. Gen. Ethan Diven, acting commanding general, said the immediate priority was securing the site. The cause has not been determined. Accounts of the flight's purpose differ: a military official speaking anonymously told the Associated Press the Apache was on a routine training flight, while The Dallas Express reported the crash occurred during a maintenance test flight. The phase of flight has not been established. Coleman said Fort Hood's criminal investigation division was leading the crash investigation, according to The Independent, KTSA, KRGV and the Times of India; the Chicago Tribune and The Dallas Express reported that . The Army temporarily halted Apache training flight operations after the crash. The individual aircraft has not been identified. Registry records list one aircraft on the registry under the ; that is a record of the operator's registered holdings and not an identification of the helicopter involved.

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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 Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.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
741 ft
Nearest aerodrome
5.7 miles ESE of Fort Hood Landing Strip 50 (US-6498)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 42 Sept 2026, 15:26current

    Updated to reflect the latest reporting, including the identification of the soldiers and the conflicting accounts of the investigation lead.

  2. Version 318 Aug 2026, 23:52

    Added crash date and time, victims' names and unit, the Army-wide Apache training halt, the 155-acre Dove Hollow Fire, the conflicting maintenance-test-flight account, competing investigating bodies and location names, and Brig. Gen. Diven's statement; removed the 'developing' framing.

  3. Version 213 Aug 2026, 08:13

    Added Times of India as a second source, identified Coleman as Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesman and his "violent crash" description, added the wildfire evacuation of several homes, and noted the sourced variations in operator naming and investigation wording.

  4. Version 113 Aug 2026, 08:07

    First published.

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