The Army on Friday announced it's temporarily grounding all Apache helicopter flights following the fatal crash near Fort Hood, Texas, earlier this week.
"Army leaders directed a temporary stand-down of AH64 Apache training flight operations," the Army said in a statement. "The stand-down will remain in effect until we have a better understanding of the root cause of the accident. We currently have no additional information to share."
A two-seater Army Apache attack helicopter based at Fort Hood "experienced a mishap ... during a maintenance test flight" on Wednesday and crashed in a field near Fort Hood, according to the Army. Two soldiers -- identified as 34-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey and 25-year-old Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead -- died in the crash.
It's not yet clear what led to the crash and the Army said a team from the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center is leading the safety investigation.
Recent data show that Apaches have a higher number of recent mishaps than other helicopters in the Army inventory.