New York State Trooper among those killed in military helicopter crash

Two members of the New York State National Guard were identified Friday as victims in a military helicopter crash that killed three people in Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border.

John M. Grassia III, a New York State soldier, and Casey Frankoski, a National Guard helicopter pilot, were killed near La Grulla, Texas, when the helicopter crashed in a field. Chris Luna, a U.S. Border Patrol agent, also died in the crash, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

All three had been deployed along the southern U.S. border since October.

The death of Mr. Grassia, 30, was announced by the New York State Troopers Union in a social media messagestating that he had joined the force in 2022 as a state soldier. Mrs. Frankoski was mentioned in one Facebook post by the mayor of her hometown of Rensselaer, NY, where her father is a retired police chief.

Last week’s operation was said to be a “routine mission” along the U.S.-Mexico border, with Mr. Grassia, Ms. Frankoski and two others working with the Joint Task Force North, a U.S. Defense Department initiative that runs the border along the border. follows. with local and federal law enforcement.

The group “provided monitoring and detection capabilities along that portion of the border,” said Maj. Ryan Wierzbicki, a spokesman for the task force.

The helicopter was following people entering the United States illegally when it crashed, said Judge Eloy Vera, a top local official in Starr County, the site of the accident.

Army investigators arrived at the site this weekend and were tasked with combing the wreckage for the plane’s black box, a UH-72 Lakota, which was regularly used by the military on such missions as a light utility aircraft.

A third National Guardsman was seriously injured in the crash, the National Guard said.