The U.S. Army suspended all AH-64 Apache attack helicopter training flights on Friday, August 14, 2026, two days after an Apache went down in a grassy field near Salado, Texas, killing both soldiers on board. The stand-down covers training missions across the force and will remain in effect until investigators have a clearer understanding of what caused the crash. Combat Apache operations were not affected.
The aircraft came down on Wednesday, August 12, approximately 30 miles from Fort Hood, the large Army installation in central Texas from which it had departed on a maintenance test flight. The Bell County justice of the peace declared both occupants dead; they were pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m. that day.
The Army identified the two soldiers as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey, 34, of Killeen, Texas, and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead, 25, of Belton, Texas. Huey had served in the Army since 2014; Olmstead joined in 2023. Both were assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.
The impact triggered a large grass fire that forced residents of several nearby homes to evacuate. No buildings or structures were damaged by the helicopter itself.
A safety investigation team from the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center, based at Fort Rucker, Alabama, arrived at the scene on Thursday and is leading the inquiry. The Army has said the training stand-down will remain in place until investigators better understand the root cause of the accident. No cause has been publicly identified, and no timeline for lifting the restriction has been given.
Safety stand-downs of this kind are a standard Army procedure after aviation mishaps. They are intended to allow commanders and investigators to assess whether systemic risks exist before normal operations resume.
The AH-64 Apache has been the Army's primary attack helicopter since the first aircraft was delivered in 1984. More than 5,000 have been deployed by the U.S. military and its allies over the decades. Recent data indicates that Apaches have recorded a higher number of mishaps than other helicopters in the Army inventory, though it is not yet known whether that pattern is connected to the circumstances of Wednesday's crash.
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