Army identifies four soldiers killed in Washington state helicopter crash

The U.S. Army on Monday identified the four soldiers killed in a helicopter crash west of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state during a routine training flight Wednesday night. The victims are Chief Warrant Officers Andrew Cully, 35, of Sparta, Missouri; Andrew Kraus, 39, of Sanibel, Florida; and Sergeants Donavon Scott, 25, of Tacoma, Washington; Jadalyn Good, 23, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The helicopter, an MH-60 Black Hawk, belonged to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers. The crash occurred around 9 p.m. local time about 10 miles south of Tacoma, near JBLM. The cause remains under investigation.

Weather conditions in the area at the time were listed as mostly clear with light winds from the south, the National Weather Service said. The soldiers were members of a highly trained aviation unit that conducts nighttime missions around the world, and JBLM sits about 10 miles south of Tacoma under Army Joint Base Headquarters.

This crash marks the second deadly incident involving the Night Stalkers in recent years. In 2023, five Army aviation special operations forces were killed when a helicopter crashed in the Eastern Mediterranean during a routine air-refueling mission as part of training. In March 2024, two soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord's SOAR unit were hospitalized after an Apache helicopter crash at the base during a routine training exercise.

Col. Stephen Smith, in the Army release, said the four soldiers embodied the unwavering dedication, selflessness, and excellence that define the very spirit of the Army and Army Special Operations.