A service member with the U.S. led Coalition against Islamic State was killed on Sunday in a helicopter crash in Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve said.
“The aircraft was conducting a partnered counterterrorism mission in support of Operation Inherent Resolve,” the Coalition said in a Monday, August 20 statement.
The crash happened at 10 p.m. GMT on Sunday, and three other Coalition service members were evacuated for further treatment, CJTF-OIR said.
“There are no indications the crash was caused by hostile fire,” the statement added.
U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Colonel Rob Manning later said the service member was an American.
“I would like to express our condolences on behalf of the Department of Defense for the death of one U.S. service member and several others injured when their aircraft crashed yesterday in Iraq,” Manning told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday.
The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the soldiers as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Taylor J. Galvin from Spokane, Washington. The 34-year-old was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), also known as the Night Stalkers.
Galvin died in Baghdad as a result of injuries sustained when his helicopter crashed in Sinjar, Ninevah Province, the Pentagon said.
Newsweek’s James LaPorta first reported that the Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a Special Operations mission with 10 U.S. service members on board. The helicopter was returning to base after a raid, and the crash was likely due to a mechanical malfunction, LaPorta reported.
The Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces has continued to fight pockets of ISIS insurgents in Iraq since Prime Minister Hadier al-Abadi declared victory over the group last year.
In March, a U.S. HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in near the town of Qaim in western Iraq, killing all seven personnel on board. The Pave Hawk, a Black Hawk variant, is used by U.S. special operations forces and often flown in search and rescue missions.
This story was updated on August 20 with background information and a statement from Pentagon spokesperson Col. Manning and on August 21 with the soldier’s name.
