Seven Fort Hood soldiers died early Monday morning when a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed and burned after striking support wires on an 18-hundred-foot television transmission tower near Bruceville-Eddy between Waco and Temple.

The 4th Infantry Division soldiers were on a flight from Fort Hood to Texarkana when the helicopter went down in heavy fog early Monday morning.

One witness who said the helicopter erupted in a fall of fire and then exploded after it hit the ground.

The fuselage came to rest several hundred yards from the KXXV-TV tower. Other parts of the helicopter were scattered across the field.

VIDEO: Helicopter Crash Site

Investigators are expected to focus on both the weather and on the tower’s broken warning lights, which stopped working after severe storms rumbled through the area last week.

Fourth Infantry Division Public Affairs Officer Lt. Col Jonathan Withington, who confirmed the deaths of the soldiers Monday afternoon, would not comment on whether the weather or the warning lights may have played a role in the crash.

VIDEO: Lt. Col Jonathan Withington, 4th ID Spokesman, confirms deaths of seven Fort Hood soldiers in Blackhawk crash.

KXXV General Manager Jerry Pursley said the station notified the Federal Aviation Administration last week after heavy storms knocked out the warning lights on the tower last week.

“We ask that everyone join us in praying for the crew members and their families,” Pursley said in a prepared statement posted on the station’s Web site.

The twin-turbine Blackhawk has been a military workhorse for two decades.

It’s capable of carrying a full 11-member infantry squad in addition to the three-member crew.

Click Here For More Information On The Blackhawk Helicopter From The U.S. Army

Click Here For More Information On The Blackhawk Helicopter From Sikorsky

RECENT TEXAS MILITARY AIRCRAFT CRASHES

March 1985: Six crewmen die when a C-130 from Little Rock, Ark., crashes near Fort Hood, Texas.

June 22, 1987: Ten killed when a UH-1 ``Huey'' helicopter crashes during a low-level orientation flight at Fort Hood.

Feb. 25, 1988: Ten killed and eight burned when a Chinook CH-47D helicopter crashes near Chico during a routine flight from Fort Hood to Fort Sill, Okla.

Oct. 15, 1989: Two killed when an F-16 crashes during a training mission at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth.

June 24, 1991: An Air Force T-38 trainer jet crashes while attempting to
land at Sheppard A.F.B., killing a student pilot and Italian NATO instructor.

Nov. 30, 1992: All four crewmembers of a B-1B bomber, based at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, killed during a low-flying training mission in West Texas.

Dec. 23, 1992: One crewmember killed when a Navy Reserve F-14, assigned to Dallas Naval Air Station went down near Comanche, Texas.

May 24, 1993: An F-16 pilot was killed when his plane went down in a rural area near Mineral Wells.

Jan. 25, 1994: An Army helicopter crashed northwest of Killeen during a training mission, killing two pilots on board.

Aug. 17, 1994: A student pilot is killed when two T-45 training jets
assigned to Naval Air Station Kingsville collide.

Feb. 14, 1995: An instructor pilot, assigned to Naval Air Station Corpus
Christi, died when his plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico during a routine training mission.

April 24, 1995: Five killed when a CH-47 Delta Chinook helicopter crashes near Florence in Williamson County.

May 31, 1995: Two civilians killed when a T-38 Talon training jet crashes into an apartment building in Wichita Falls. The two crewmembers ejected safely.

Dec. 04, 1997: Both crewmembers die in crash of Ft Hood AH64 Apache in San Saba County. Copter was assigned to the Fourth Infantry Division.