An MH-60 Black Hawk from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) crashed during a routine training mission near Summit Lake, west of Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), at about 9 p.m. PT on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. Four Night Stalkers were aboard. A one-acre wildfire ignited at the site, slowing rescue efforts. The Army says the situation is active and under investigation; no crew identities or conditions have been released.

Where It Happened—and Why That Matters

Summit Lake sits in timbered country roughly 35 miles west of JBLM, a familiar corridor for low-level, night-vision training flights that let crews practice terrain masking and time-on-target navigation without buzzing neighborhoods. Deputies and firefighters pushed toward the wreckage after reports of an explo

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