A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz Monday night, and both crew members were rescued in what military officials are calling the first sea drone rescue in American military history.
What caused the crash remains officially under investigation.
The AH-64 Apache went down off the coast of Oman on Monday while patrolling regional waters. U.S. Central Command confirmed the incident Tuesday morning, saying both crew members were recovered within approximately two hours and were in stable condition. CENTCOM said the soldiers were “rescued by American forces” using a Navy unmanned surface drone, a first for the U.S. military.
“The cause of the incident is under investigation,” CENTCOM said on X.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard claiming to have shot down the Army aircraft.
“An AH-64 Apache attack helicopter belonging to the U.S. Army was shot down and destroyed by the IRGC Navy near the Strait of Hormuz, after ignoring warnings and being targeted by fire from one of our speedboats,” the IRGC said.
The U.S. has not said the helicopter took hostile fire, and the incident remains under investigation by U.S. forces.
President Donald Trump acknowledged the incident while speaking to reporters on the runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York before returning to Washington after attending the NBA Finals Monday night.
“The pilots are fine. Yeah,” Trump told reporters. “Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow.”