The Idaho Army National Guard on Friday identified two helicopter pilots killed when the Apache they were in crashed just outside Boise a day before.
Chief Warrant Officer Stien P. Gearhart, 50, of Meridian, and Chief Warrant Officer Jon L. Hartway, 43, of Kuna, died in the 7 p.m. crash, in which an AH-64D Apache helicopter went down during a training mission about two miles south of Gowen Field, where the Guard's 1st Battalion, 183rd Aviation Regiment, is based, the Guard said. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
“The men and women of the Idaho National Guard are united in grief at the loss of two of our brothers in arms, who gave their lives while training to defend our nation,” Idaho National Guard Commander Major General Gary Sayler said in a statement Thursday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.” It was the second U.S. military air crash Thursday. An Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed in the Gulf of Mexico early Thursday and the body of the pilot — the only person on board — was later recovered. The name of that pilot has not yet been released.
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