Pentagon: Cause of helicopter crash unclear

Two U.S. Army UH-60 helicopters like this one were involved in the fatal crash

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Pentagon spokesman said Thursday it was still not clear what caused two Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to collide, killing six soldiers.

"It is still not clear how the two helicopters came in contact," Rear Adm. Craig Quigley told reporters. The accident happened in a remote training area in Kahuku, Hawaii during a routine, night-time training exercise called "Lightning Thrust Warrior," late Monday.

One of the helicopters, he said, had a "hard landing" before the collision. That helicopter, he said, was carrying equipment in a sling beneath the aircraft. The other helicopter, with six on board, was carrying a Humvee underneath it, and it was in the air. After the collision, that helicopter veered over to its side and tumbled down a gulch.

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All six soldiers on board that aircraft were killed. Four soldiers from the other helicopter remain hospitalized

The Black Hawk has been an Army workhorse since it went into service in 1979. It carries up to 13 people, said Maj. Nancy Makowski, a spokeswoman for the Army's 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.

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