Topline
A U.S. military attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, but its two crew members were successfully rescued and are doing fine, President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday night, marking the latest aircraft loss for the military linked to the Iran war.
Key Facts
The U.S. Army Apache crash was first reported by the New York Times, citing unnamed official sources, but it is unclear if the attack helicopter was shot down by Iranian forces or encountered a technical issue.
Trump acknowledged the incident while speaking to journalists in New York after the NBA Finals and said, “The pilots are fine.”
The president added that nobody was injured and said his administration will issue a report on the matter on Tuesday.
The U.S. Military’s Central Command and the Pentagon have not yet commented on the incident.
The Apache helicopters have been used by the military to enforce the continued U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf.
Key Background
The crashed Apache is the latest in a series of U.S. military aircraft losses in the Middle East since the start of the Iran War earlier this year. Earlier this month, Iran shot down a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone over the Persian Gulf and CENTCOM responded by striking Iranian drone control and missile launch sites. Since the start of the conflict, Iran has managed to shoot down nearly 30 of the larger MQ-9 Reaper attack drones and one A-10 ground attack aircraft. The most closely followed such shootdown occurred in early April when a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down deep over Iranian territory, prompting a major search and recovery effort that led to the two crew members being rescued. Three other F-15Es had been shot down earlier in the conflict over Kuwait in a friendly fire incident. Iran has also managed to destroy or damage several U.S. aircraft on the ground in airbases across the Gulf, including KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and an E-3 airborne early warning radar jet.
Tangent
Earlier on Monday, CENTCOM announced U.S. forces “disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman” for violating the U.S. blockade by attempting to sail to an Iranian port. A U.S. Navy F/A 18 Super Hornet fighter jet fired a “precision munition” at the ship’s “engineering and steering spaces” after its crew refused to comply with orders. It’s unclear what happened to the crew of the disabled tankers and if the strike resulted in any casualties.
further reading
Crew Rescued After U.S. Helicopter Goes Down Near Strait of Hormuz (New York Times)
Trump Says Iran And Israel Are Looking For ‘Immediate Ceasefire’ After Trading Strikes (Forbes)