Four special operations soldiers who were aboard a MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed Wednesday night near Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington are believed to be dead, Army officials announced. The soldiers were with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
“Our hearts are with the families, friends, and teammates of these Night Stalkers,” Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, said in a statement. “They were elite warriors who embodied the highest values of the Army and the Army Special Operations, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
The crash occurred in a rural area near the base on Wednesday at around 9 p.m. local time, officials said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Col. Allie Scott, a spokesperson for Army Special Operations Command, said the helicopter crashed in terrain that was “hard to reach.”
Recovery efforts are underway and involve law enforcement, firefighters and personnel from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Known as the “Night Stalkers,” the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment is the Army’s premier special operations flying unit. In 2011, crews from the unit flew Navy SEALs into Pakistan for the mission that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
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The Joint Base Lewis McChord crash comes after a dangerous few years across Army aviation.
Earlier this year, Army aviation came under intense scrutiny after a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, collided with a civilian passenger plane approaching Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Three Army pilots died along with 64 passengers on the American Airlines flight. Federal investigators said the crash was the result of overwhelmed civilian air traffic controllers, communication failures and malfunctions with the Black Hawk’s internal systems.
In February 2024, the National Guard issued a helicopter safety stand down after two crashes within two weeks. Two pilots were injured when a Utah National Guard Apache crashed during an exercise. Then, two weeks later, a Mississippi National Guard AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed during training, killing two soldiers.
In 2023, Army officials issued a 24-hour stand down in aerial operations to review aviation safety and refresh pilot training after a dozen soldiers died in accidents in the span of one month. In March of that year, a pair of HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Kentucky, killing nine soldiers and then in April, two AH-64 Apache helicopters collided and ultimately crashed in Alaska, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth.
UPDATE: 9/19/2025; This article was updated after publication with a statement from U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
