Black Hawk helicopter crashes in Thurston County, Washington, with 4 aboard

Kai Uyehara, The Seattle Times on Sep 18, 2025

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SEATTLE — A Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Summit Lake in Thurston County with four service members aboard on Wednesday night, U.S. Army said in a statement.

Their conditions are unknown as of Thursday afternoon. The service members were assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

The MH-60 Black Hawk was involved in an “aviation mishap” and went down in a rural area around 9 p.m., said U.S. Army spokesperson Scot Keith. The cause of the “mishap” is under investigation.

The military lost contact with the helicopter in the area 40 miles from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, said the Thurston County sheriff’s office, which is working with the military base to “deploy resources needed to assist.”

Thurston County sheriff’s deputies responded to the reports of the crash but were unable to carry out rescue efforts because “the scene is on fire and is starting to overheat their footwear,” Sheriff Derek Sanders said late Wednesday night in a Facebook post.

The King County sheriff’s office Guardian 1 helicopter responded to the crash along with special operation rescue units, Sanders said.

Two pilots were injured in March 2024 when a helicopter crashed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord during routine training. In October, two aviators died when a Navy Growler crashed east of Mount Rainier on a routine training flight.

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