Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Dutch Defense Boeing AH-64 Apache
Boeing AH-64 Apache photographed in Havelte, Groningen. 13 May 2006. - Credit: photo: JePe / Wikimedia
Innovation
Boeing
Apache helicopter
Defensie
Defense Ministry
Zoelmond
Gelderland
Dutch Safety Board
Monday, 13 November 2017 - 20:40
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Apache helicopter crash causes power outage in Netherlands

An Apache helicopter crashed into an electricity transmission tower and high-voltage cables Monday evening, before making an emergency landing near Zoelmond, Gelderland. Neither of the two crew members onboard were injuries in the incident, nor were there any injuries on the ground.

It left roughly 24 thousand customers without power in the region.

The accident happened during a night flight training session called "Decisive Thunder 2017," the Dutch Air Force acknowledged. The helicopter was flying near the N320 roadway at marker 10.8 when it struck the utility equipment. An initial call to emergency services came in at 7:19 p.m., but power outages were first reported by energy network Liander ten minutes earlier.

The Dutch Safety Board had already begun an investigation by 8:23 p.m., the agency said on Twitter.

Andere foto van de Apache na de noodlanding in Zoelmond (c) Grad van Hoesel #stroomstoring pic.twitter.com/deLhN4vpaO

— Starlifter AP (@StarlifterAP) November 13, 2017

As part of Decisive Thunder 2017, a week of helicopter exercises were planned in the region of the accident, including low-altitude interceptions and combat tactics, according to a Defense ministry statement released on Nov. 7. Monday marked the first day of the trainings, that were to last through Friday. Nighttime helicopters were expected to fly as low as 300 feet, and daytime flights could touch a minimum altitude of 100 feet.

However, certain exercises could require the helicopters to fly even lower, the broadcaster stated.

Liander first reported that repairs would be completed by 9 p.m., but later modified that to say it was unknown when the power would return to the area.

A similar accident left about 50 thousand customers without power back in 2007 roughly 20 kilometers south of Monday night's incident. The 2007 crash also took place during a Defense ministry training exercise that led to an Apache helicopter flying into high-voltage cables. The pilot in that case was required to perform community service for reckless flying. That power outage caused some one million euros in damage, Omroep Gelderland wrote.

Bijna 10 jaar na de grote stroomstoring in de Bommelerwaard vliegt er opnieuw een Apache helikopter tegen een hoogspanningsmast, ditmaal in Zoelmond https://t.co/YUsAB23hcx pic.twitter.com/NItz1liFzG

— Brandweer Brakel (@brandweerbrakel) November 13, 2017

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Cabinet ready to shorten duration of municipal debt relief down to 1.5 years
  • Two killed in fatal Arnhem fire are women aged 46 and 51
  • Lynxes might settle in Netherlands again; A "dilemma," Minister says
  • Leak of Dutch PM's row with Finance Minister is "Gossip and backstabbing;" Rutte apologized
  • Dutch police take down Exclu encrypted chat service with 42 arrests, €4 million seized
  • One worker killed, four hurt in Zeeland Refinery accident

Top stories

  • Dutch police take down Exclu encrypted chat service with 42 arrests, €4 million seized
  • Signal failure briefly halts train traffic around A'dam; NS warns of significant delays
  • Matching medicine dosage to patient's DNA can cut side effects 30%: LUMC
  • Dutch airports' traveler numbers not yet back to pre-pandemic levels in 2022
  • Dutch parliamentarians support €57 rent reduction for low-income households
  • European office to gather proof of war crimes in Ukraine will set up in The Hague

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content