The four special-operations soldiers who died in a helicopter crash near Leadville on Wednesday had served on dozens of missions in Iraq and elsewhere.
Officials at Fort Campbell, Ky., where the soldiers were stationed, Friday identified the four, who were all assigned to Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne).
The 160th SOAR, known as the Night Stalkers, is an elite aviation unit that focuses on transporting special-forces soldiers, Army Rangers and Navy SEALS into some of the most-dangerous areas of the world for covert operations.
Using the cover of nightfall and keeping low to the ground to avoid radar detection, the pilots often have to navigate through enemy territory and bad weather to safely deliver and retrieve soldiers.
The four soldiers died when their MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed on the slopes of 14,421-foot Mount Massive, Colorado’s second-highest peak, while conducting mountain and environmental training.
The two pilots and two crew members were:
The helicopter took off Wednesday from Peterson Air Force Base east of Colorado Springs on a high-altitude training mission to prepare for conditions they might encounter during a live-service mission, according to Lt. Col. John Clearwater of the U.S. Army Public Affairs Office, Special Operations Command.
Investigators have recovered the helicopter’s “black box,” or flight data recorder, which will help determine what caused the crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
