---
title: "Air Force NCO killed in New Mexico car accident"
description: "“D’Andrea was a gifted and talented member of Team Kirtland’s Medical Group.\""
date: "2020-11-05"
modified: "2020-11-05"
authors:
  - name: "David Roza"
    job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-car-accident-kirtland/"
categories:
  - "Air Force"
  - "Around the World"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "News"
  - "United States"
tags:
  - "death"
  - "Northern Command"
---

# Air Force NCO killed in New Mexico car accident

An airman assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base died Wednesday night in an off-base car accident, base officials said on Thursday.

Staff Sgt. D’Andrea Smith, a member of the medical group at Kirtland, was driving to her home in southeast Albuquerque when her vehicle was struck, according to an Air Force press release.

The Albuquerque Police Department is investigating the incident.

Police said a man named Mohammad Hassani was driving the other vehicle which struck Smith, according to local news channel [KRQE](<https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/deadly-crash-near-eubank-and-central/>). Hassani allegedly admitted to police that he had been drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and speeding prior to the collision. He has been charged with vehicular homicide, according to KRQE.

“D’Andrea was a gifted and talented member of Team Kirtland’s Medical Group,” said Col. David Miller, 377th Air Base Wing and Kirtland Installation Commander.

“I would like to extend our deepest condolences to D’Andrea’s loved ones. The Air Force is a family and the death of any one of our Wingmen is deeply felt by all of us.”

## Author
David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis.

Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific.

Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io](<mailto:david.roza@teamrecurrent.io>)