One Soldier Killed, Three Injured in Black Hawk Crash at Fort Polk

A Black Hawk from the Army's 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment, takes part in the Box Tour at Fort Polk, Louisiana, on Aug. 17, 2019. (Army photo by Patricia Dubiel)

Military.com | By Matthew Cox

Published September 26, 2019

One soldier was killed and three were injured when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a medevac mission early Thursday morning at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The base has not released the identity of the soldier killed in the crash since it is Army policy to wait 24 hours after family members are notified, Kim Reischling, a spokeswoman for Fort Polk, told Military.com.

The soldiers in the Black Hawk were assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment, at Polk and were responding to a call for medevac from inside the training area at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at approximately 12:15 a.m., Reischling said.

"This was a Fort Polk unit, and they were flying a real-world medevac mission to pick up a minor injury out there in the box. And that is when the mishap occurred," she said.

Reischling described the three soldiers' injuries as "minor to stable."

One soldier was taken to Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital, and the other two were taken to Rapides Regional Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana, she said.

The U.S. Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, will investigate the crash, Reischling said.

Fort Polk trains between 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers a year at JRTC, she added.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

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Matthew Cox

Matthew Cox has been a defense reporter since 1998. During his time with Military.com he covered all the services, with a close eye on Army weapons development and procurement, body armor testing, camouflage, ammunition as well as readiness and training issues. He previously worked for 12 years for Army Times. He traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq numerous times from 2002 to 2008, covering Stryker and light infantry units in combat. He also spent four years in the U.S. Army during the second half of the 1980s, serving as an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division. Read Full Bio

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