An Air Force UH-1N Huey helicopter crashed on a routine training flight from Kirtland AFB, N.M. The aircrew, assigned to the base’s 58th Special Operations Wing, escaped the wreckage unscathed before flames consumed the helicopter just before noon local time on Wednesday, reported KRQE News in Albuquerque. The helicopter impacted a slope on Hidden Mountain, roughly 25 miles southwest of Kirtland, due west of Los Lunas, N.M. According to KRQE’s report, two instructor pilots, a flight engineer instructor, and student were conducting combat search and rescue training at the time of the crash. The Air Force is convening a board of inquiry to investigate the cause of the mishap.
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.