A military helicopter carrying two Tennessee National Guard crew members on a training mission crashed near a highway in Alabama and burst into flames, officials announced, killing the occupants.
The deadly crash happened on Highway 53 in Madison County near the border of Alabama and Tennessee, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.
According to a US official, the Tennessee National Guard owns the helicopter.
Madison County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Brent Patterson said they received a distress call at around 3 pm. According to Patterson, the first responders who got to the scene found the plane engulfed in flames.
The plane was a total loss after the flames, and the extent of the damage led authorities to determine that nobody had survived the crash.
The Tennessee National Guard said that no civilians or other service members were injured during the crash. Federal and state authorities will investigate the crash site, and the Tennessee National Guard said it would work with officials tasked with the investigation.
In a statement released by the National Guard, their spokesperson Robert Carver said it was still too early to discuss what possibly led to the crash.
The helicopter caught fire immediately after impact, with videos showing thick black smoke billowing from the side of the highway, with a bright red and orange fire burning near the ground.
Videos taken from miles away from the scene show black smoke floating a few hundred feet into the sky.
A witness, Tammy Adams, told a local news outlet that she saw the helicopter fly overhead, then hit the ground, and an explosion immediately after. She said that she knew that no one could survive that accident.
The unfortunate crew members were identified as Daniel Wadham of Joelton and Danny Randolph of Murfreesboro.
