Two U.S. Army aviators were pulled from the water on Monday after their AH-64 Apache went down near the coast of Oman, and U.S. officials said an American sea drone helped bring them back safely in what they described as the first such rescue carried out by U.S. forces.
US Central Command said the crew members were rescued at 19:33 EDT, about two hours after the crash, and were in stable condition. President Donald Trump later told reporters the two were "fine," a brief but reassuring update after an incident in one of the world’s most closely watched waterways.
The helicopter had been patrolling regional waters near the Strait of Hormuz when it went down, a narrow passage that carries a huge share of the world’s oil shipments and has long sat at the center of U.S.-Iran military friction. The aircraft was an AH-64 Apache, an American-made attack helicopter that is routinely used in combat and security missions.
Military officials said the pair were rescued by an uncrewed surface drone operated by US 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59, with rescue efforts led by US Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division and supported by Air Force and Navy units. A US official described the drone as having a speedboat-like design, a small but telling detail in a rescue that showed unmanned systems moving from surveillance and support into active lifesaving work.
What brought the Apache down is still unknown. Officials said it may have suffered a mechanical or technical problem, but they did not rule out Iranian fire, a possibility that keeps the episode from being read as a routine aviation mishap. The incident is being investigated, and that inquiry is now the key question hanging over the rescue.
Task Force 59 launched a new unit in 2024 focused on using unmanned systems alongside manned operators to strengthen maritime security across the Middle East, and this rescue may become one of its clearest demonstrations yet. For now, the two aviators are safe, the helicopter is not, and the cause of the crash near Oman remains the part that matters most.
