Military says helicopter fatality not combat related

Army Chief Warrant Officer Christian P. Humphreys, 28, who listed his hometown as Fallon, and Army Chief Warrant Officer Donald V. Clark, 37, of Memphis, Tenn., died Saturday when their OH-58 Kiowa helicopter made a "hard landing" after hitting wires in the northern city of Mosul, the Pentagon said.

The military also said that "the incident appears to be combat-unrelated and there was no enemy contact in the area." The Army did not say which of the two pilots was flying when the crash occurred.

Humphreys flew with the Fallon Naval Air Station Search and Rescue Longhorns from June 6, 2004, to May 5, 2006. He left the Navy and joined the Army as part of the "Blue to Green" program to become a helicopter pilot.

At the time of his death, he was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force 49, U.S. Army Alaska, Fort Wainwright.

"He was a great guy, always happy and had a joke," said Sean Whitney, a flight medic, told the Lahontan Valley News on Tuesday. He said Humphreys lived in a rented house on the northwest side of Fallon.

"We used to play with our paintball guns in the cornfields behind his house," Whitney said.

Whitney remembered when Humphreys married Christina Williams in the fall of 2004. He recollected how they were trying to make a better life for themselves while stationed in Fallon.

Humphrey's wife and his parents currently live in Alamogordo, N.M. Funeral arrangements are pending there.

Petty Officer Second Class Justin Schmidt knew Humphreys during the entire time he was assigned to the Longhorns.

"He was a funny guy, a nice guy, a lot of character," Schmidt said. "Some of the guys here still remember him." The guy was always entertaining, always had something to say, but like everyone here, he displayed the professionalism in saving lives."

As a rescue crew chief, Humphreys was in charge of the operation behind the pilots. Schmidt said Humphreys made the decisions when to deploy rescue crews out of the helicopter to assist injured people, and he also took care of the equipment.

Schmidt said the last time the local NAS Fallon Search and Rescue team saw Humphreys was earlier this year when he passed through the valley on his way to Fort Wainwright.

"We told him to go have fun in Alaska," Schmidt said. "We all told him he was a lucky son of a gun to be stationed there during a time of war."