A New Jersey soldier was among the nine killed earlier this week when two Blackhawk military helicopters collided during a routine training mission at US Army Fort Campbell in Kentucky, the military announced.
Sgt. David Solinas, 23, of Oradell, New Jersey, was on one of the doomed HH60 Blackhawk helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division when they collided.
The helicopters crashed in an open field near a residential area in Trigg County, according to Brigadier General John Lubas, the deputy commander of the 101st Airborne Division.
The crash was the deadliest training accident for the Army since March 2015, when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed off the coast of Florida in dense fog. In that incident, 11 soldiers were killed.
Besides for Solinas, the other soldiers killed were identified as:
Jeffrey Barnes, 33, of Milton, Florida; Emilie Marie Even Bolanos, 23, of Austin, Texas; Zachary Esparza, 36, of Jackson, Missouri; Isaacjohn Gayo, 27, of Los Angeles, California; Joshua Gore, 25, of Morehead City, North Carolina; Aaron Healy, 32, of Cape Coral, Florida; Taylor Mitchell, 30, of Mountain Brook, Alabama; and Rusten Smith, 32, of Rolla, Missouri.