An HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopter assigned to the 18th Wing at Kadena AB, Japan, crashed during a training mission on Monday in Okinawa’s Central Training Area near Camp Hansen, announced wing officials. The crash occurred around 4 p.m. local time. US fire and rescue crews responded to the mishap scene. They recovered three of the helicopter’s crew. Those three airmen were in stable condition and received medical care for their injuries at the US naval hospital on the island, according to a wing release. The remaining crew member was still missing as of early Tuesday Kadena time. However, wing officials said rescuers on the scene had recovered yet-to-be-identified human remains at the crash site. Kadena officials said they’d release more details as they become available. 18th WG leadership suspended flying activities at the base on Tuesday for a day, except for operationally required missions. Officials said they did not know when the base’s HH-60s would resume flying. (See also initial Kadena release and second Kadena release.)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.