An operational mindset that fostered a “false confidence of safety” as well as poor mission planning contributed to an Air Force demonstration gone wrong last year, when a helicopter crew in Japan accidentally caused a civilian to suffer a fatal fall.
An Air Force accident report was released this past week, looking into a mishap at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. A Japanese civilian working as a Department of Defense Education Activity teacher at Kadena Elementary School was knocked off balance by the helicopter’s rotor wash, causing her to suffer a fall. She would die five days later.
The mishap happened on April 22, 2025, during a “Month of the Military Child” event at Kadena. As part of the celebrations, an Air Force HH-60W Jolly Green II was set to fly by Kadena Elementary School as teachers and students watched, before landing. During its final approach, the report found, the helicopter flew too close to the crowd, hitting them with rotor wash — gusts of wind from the spinning rotors — and causing the 60-year-old teacher to be knocked off balance. She fell onto a concrete walkway, suffering severe head injuries.
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Helicopters from the 33rd Rescue Squadron were set to do aerial demonstrations at the four schools on the base, showing certain movements before landing and letting students talk to crews. Similar demonstrations had happened the previous two years. Initial plans started two months prior to the April event. Air Force personnel identified three spectator areas near the elementary school where people could watch the demonstration.
The investigation found several flaws even before the helicopter approached the school. Planners had conflicting information, drew on previous years events and locations of spectator spaces were not clearly communicated. One of the biggest issues once in the air was a failure to follow safety regulations. The flight had several issues beforehand; Air Force regulations called for 500 feet of distance between the flight line and spectator spaces. Planning for the event called for more space, with a 600-foot gap mandated.
Instead, the spectator areas were much closer, between 80-160 feet from the helicopter’s path and landing zone. The report found that the teacher was just 85 feet from the helicopter’s final approach path. The rotor wash caused an umbrella she was carrying to fly open, further knocking her off balance and falling. Fellow school employees immediately tried to help her and called for emergency service. She was rushed to a hospital, where a CT scan found a large fracture in her skull as well as brain bleeding. She was treated at both the Naval Hospital and nearby Ryukyu University Hospital. She died from her head injury on April 27. Neither the initial announcement from the base last year or the Air Force’s report identified the teacher.
“Our investigation found that the aviators involved in the aerial demonstration at KES were confident they were not putting spectators at risk, attested to by the fact that many had family members watching the demonstration from the school’s spectator areas,” the investigator’s conclusion said. “The mishap at KES — with the tragic loss of a longtime DoDEA teacher and deeply respected community member — regrettably makes clear that their well-meaning confidence was misplaced.”
