4 service members were aboard US Army helicopter that crashed in
Washington state
[September 19, 2025]
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Four service members were aboard a U.S. Army
MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed near Joint Base Lewis-McChord
in Washington state, the Army said in a release Thursday. The Army did
not release their conditions.
The helicopter was on a routine training mission when it crashed at
about 9 p.m. Wednesday, an Army official said in a statement. The
soldiers were part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment,
Airborne, officials said. The cause of the crash was under
investigation, the Army said. |
The main flag pole in front of the U.S. Army I Corps headquarters on
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma, Wash., hangs at half-staff,
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) |
|
“This remains an active, ongoing situation,” the release said.
The crash sparked a small wildfire that had grown to 1 acre (0.4
hectares) by Thursday morning, the Washington Department of
Natural Resources said.
This is “currently a search mission” involving the “most
professional and skilled addressing the situation,” Army
spokesperson Ruth Castro told The Associated Press in an email.
They were fully cooperating with law enforcement, she said. No
details were released about the helicopter.
The base is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Tacoma under
the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Joint Base Headquarters.
The Thurston County sheriff’s office, based in Olympia, posted
online late Wednesday that deputies were dispatched to reports
of a possible helicopter crash in the Summit Lake area, west of
Olympia.
“We have been advised that the military lost contact with a
helicopter in the area,” the department said. It said it was
working with the base and that no further details were
available.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders said on Facebook that
deputies located the crash site, “but have been unable to
continue rescue efforts as the scene is on fire.”
The King County Guardian 1 helicopter and special operation
rescue units responded to the crash site, the sheriff said.
Staff with the state natural resources were working with
multiple agencies, including the military and the local fire
protection district, to battle the fire started by the crash,
said Thomas Kyle-Milward, DNR wildfire communications manager.
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