2 killed when helicopter crashes in Colorado

updated 8:48 p.m. ET Aug. 19, 2009

LEADVILLE, Colo. - A military helicopter crashed Wednesday near the peak of Colorado's second-highest mountain, killing two people, injuring one and leaving the only other person aboard missing, authorities said.

The Black Hawk helicopter from Kentucky's Fort Campbell was carrying out training exercises when it struck near the top of 14,200-feet tall Mount Massive near Leadville, according to the Lake County sheriff's office and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The injured person was flown to a Denver hospital, while rescue teams searched for the only other person aboard, said sheriff's spokesman Max Duarte. The condition of the injured person was not immediately known.

A senior U.S. defense official said the helicopter was part of a special operations group out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

Duarte said helicopter was from Fort Campbell, Ky., and was training in the central Colorado mountains. He did not know how long it had been flying near the mountain.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Betty Benson said the crash happened at about 2 p.m. Wednesday. She said U.S. Forest Service workers building trails with a youth group heard the crash but didn't see it.

Barb Timock, a Forest Service spokesman, said the crash happened near the peak at about 13,800 feet.

Fort Campbell spokesman Maj. Brandon Bissell did not immediately return a call for comment.

Leadville, a town with a population of 2,600, is about 80 southwest of Denver.

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