Army IDs 2 soldiers killed in Ga. helicopter crash

FORT BENNING, Ga. (AP) — The Army has identified two special operations pilots killed when their helicopter crashed during a training exercise in Georgia.

An Army news release Wednesday said the soldiers killed in the crash were 30-year-old Capt. John D. Hortman of Inman, S.C., and 37-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 3 Steven B. Redd of Lancaster, Calif. Both men served in the 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Army says Hortman and Redd died Monday when their AH-6M Little Bird, a light attack helicopter, crashed on a live-fire range at Fort Benning in west Georgia. They were part of a routine exercise with Army Rangers and other special operations troops.

The 160th is a unit of the Army’s elite fliers who are trained to pilot helicopters in treacherous conditions.