Both Pilots Lost

Two North Carolina Army National Guard aviators perished Thursday night when their AH-64 Apache went down near New Hill, NC, according to military investigators.

The aircraft was found partially submerged in the Cape Fear River, in southeastern Chatham County. The body of one crew member was found inside the cockpit. Divers said Friday they thought they'd located the body of the other unnamed crewman, but weren't sure.

"Visibility is practically nil at this point," Guard spokesman Capt. Matt Handley told the Raleigh News & Observer. "Divers are having to work hand-by-hand and feel their way around the aircraft."

Investigators on the scene said the attack copter appeared to have hit electrical cables strung about 40-feet above the river, pulling down power poles for several miles along both banks.

Keith Poston, a spokesman for Progress Energy, said the downed cables were the cause of a local power outage. "We don’t know what happened leading up to that."

Military officials said the two crew members -- one of them recently returned from Afghanistan -- were training with FLIR goggles. The aircraft went down right around sunset, at 2005 local. It had departed Raleigh-Durham International Airport on what was described as a routine mission before controllers lost contact with the Apache.

The pilots were attached to the First Battalion, 130th Aviation Regiment, based in Morrisville, NC.

FMI: www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/1-131avn.htm