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Plane CrashesVersion 2

Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Army Helicopter Crash Near Austin, Texas

Fort Hood's Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the August 12 crash, which sparked a fire that forced evacuations, according to Indian outlets citing local officials.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 12, 2026, 10:45 p.m. ETUpdated Aug 13, 2026, 9:20 p.m. ET
U.S. soldiers were killed when an Army helicopter crashed near , Texas, on August 12, 2026, according to reporting by economictimes.indiatimes.com and jagran.com. The aircraft was described as an by economictimes.indiatimes.com and as an "" by jagran.com; both outlets attributed the helicopter to the , rendered as "" by jagran.com. Details remain limited. The helicopter was attached to the Army's Fort Hood base and crashed during Fort Hood operations, according to economictimes.indiatimes.com, which reported people killed. The outlet also reported that the crash sparked a large grass fire and that several local fire departments responded. jagran.com reported that the resulting fire forced a number of homes to be evacuated. A spokesman for the Bell County Sheriff's Office, Cliff Coleman, said the Apache did not strike a house or other structure, and described it as a violent crash, according to jagran.com. Fort Hood withheld identification of the dead soldiers pending notification of their families, according to economictimes.indiatimes.com. The cause of the crash has not been determined. jagran.com reported that Fort Hood's Criminal Investigation Division is conducting the investigation.

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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 Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.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
548 ft
Nearest aerodrome
7.0 miles NW of Austin Bergstrom International Airport (KAUS/AUS)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 214 Aug 2026, 01:20current

    Added the August 12 date, the Fort Hood Criminal Investigation Division as investigating body, home evacuations and Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesman Cliff Coleman's account, and noted the aircraft-type wording difference between the two outlets.

  2. Version 113 Aug 2026, 07:48

    First published.

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