Army helicopter hits power lines over Columbia River, makes hard landing
By Dan Thesman on Friday, September 29th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
MATTAWA – A U.S. Army AH-64E Apache helicopter made a hard landing on Friday north of Mattawa after striking power lines over the Columbia River, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. No fatalities were reported.
The aviation mishap happened at 4:40 p.m. and caused a brief closure of State Route 243 at milepost 18 near Beverly due to power lines across the highway, which caused a small wildfire. The fire has been extinguished and the highway reopened.
Both pilots were evacuated to the Yakima Training Center for evaluation by military medical personnel and said to be okay.
The helicopter is assigned to 4-6 Air Cavalry Squadron, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord located south of Tacoma.
The incident is under investigation.
Photo via Grant County Sheriff’s Office
