Crew rescued after US helicopter crashed near Strait of Hormuz

Two crew members of a US Army Apache helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday were rescued, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Tuesday.

“At 7:33 p.m. ET on June 8, two crew members from a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache were rescued by American forces after their helicopter went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition. The cause of the incident is under investigation,” it added.

It said the rescue efforts were led by the US Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, with support from US Air Force and Navy units, including the US 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59.

Early Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said: “The pilots are fine, nobody injured, we are going to issue a report tomorrow, but the pilots are fine.”

The New York Times reported earlier that the cause of the incident was not immediately known, and it was unclear whether the helicopter had been hit by Iranian fire, suffered a mechanical malfunction, or encountered another issue.

The incident followed several days of fluctuating tensions in the region, during which Israel and Iran traded military strikes before pulling back, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire.

The US president said the negotiations with Iran are ongoing and the two sides are "very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal" as he prepared to return to the White House after attending an NBA finals game in New York.

The US military has deployed Apaches, along with armed MQ-9 Reaper drones and F/A-18 and F-35 strike aircraft, in an aggressive Central Command campaign to counter Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial shipping.

Since the war began on Feb. 28, Iran has downed about 30 Reaper drones, and several US fighter jets have been lost to hostile and friendly fire. However, this would be the first Apache lost in the conflict.