US Army Apache Helicopters Face Alarming Crash Rates Amid Mounting Transmission Failures

US Army flight crewmembers assigned to Task Force Nighthawk, 6-17 Air Cavalry Squadron, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, conduct flight checks on an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter prior to take-off in the US Central Command Area of Responsibility on Nov. 5, 2025.

The US Army’s Apache helicopters are crashing at a historically high rate amid a widespread problem with the model’s transmission, according to a CNN analysis of military accident data. The helicopter type has experienced five major crashes since October, and a deadly mishap earlier this month in Texas killed two soldiers, sparked a wildfire and led the Army to temporarily bar Apache pilots from conducting routine training flights.

With that crash, fiscal year 2026 is on pace to be the second worst for Apache flight accidents since a new model of the AH-64 was rolled out in 2011. The Army announced that the pause in training flights, which exempted units deployed to the Middle East, ended Wednesday.

This year’s rate of major Apache crashes—known as Class A mishaps in Army parlance—surpasses typical years and rivals that of the service’s most severe rate in the 2024 fiscal year, according to CNN’s review of data. The accident rate is based on the number of incidents compared to the total hours the aircraft spent flying.

In fiscal year 2024, there were nine major Apache crashes amid a spike in accidents across all Army helicopter models. Army leaders ordered a special safety training initiative that year and attributed the accidents to human errors stemming from decreased experience among its pilots and an increase in training intensity and complexity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The July issue of an official Army flight safety newsletter said that just over half of this year’s Apache accidents are primarily attributable to human error. However, the magazine noted that “a catastrophic transmission failure was noted in one Class A mishap.”

CNN estimated this year’s major Apache crash rate to be approximately 6.24 per every 100,000 flying hours, with five Class A flight mishaps occurring so far in fiscal year 2026. The E-model Apache has faced significant problems this year with its transmission that could knock out the aircraft’s tail rotor, electrical power, and hydraulics, according to internal safety messages obtained by CNN.

Army spokesperson Maj. Montrell Russell declined to answer questions regarding the transmission investigation or disclose preliminary findings concerning the deadly Texas crash at Fort Hood. Meanwhile, the Apache’s manufacturer, Boeing, has deployed teams to Army maintenance depots to assist with inspecting and fixing the transmissions.