(Reuters) – Three Idaho Army National Guard members were killed when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a routine training flight just east of Boise, the Idaho National Guard said on Wednesday.
The crash occurred on Tuesday night near Lucky Peak, Idaho, the guard said. All three of the victims were pilots, it said.
“This is a tremendous loss to the Idaho National Guard and our community,” said Major General Michael Garshak, adjutant general of Idaho and commander of the Idaho National Guard, said in a statement.
The guard said it began a search shortly after 8 p.m. local time after losing contact with the helicopter, which was made by the Sikorsky division of Lockheed Martin Corp .
Search crews found the aircraft and the bodies of the pilots shortly after midnight on Wednesday, it said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation and the identities of the pilots were not immediately released, the guard added.
(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
