British helicopter crash in Afghanistan claims life of Kalamazoo County airman

On October 11, a helicopter crash occurred in Kabul, Afghanistan resulting in two deaths.

Pelky was originally from Rio Rancho, N.M., the Air Force says. Kuhse was a 1995 graduate of Comstock High School, enlisted in the Air Force in 1996, and was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. According to family on social media, one of the Americans was U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Greg Kuhse.

Two British service members and a French civilian contractor also died in what the NATO-led military mission describes as a “non-hostile incident.”

The accident happened at about 4:15 p.m. local time on Sunday when a British Puma Mk2 helicopter crashed as it attempted to land at Camp Resolute Support near Kabul. Like many in Afghanistan, he goes by one name.

In Tuesday’s statement, the Pentagon said the cause of the crash is under investigation. A spokeswoman for US forces in Afghanistan confirmed that a Persistent Threat Reduction System came untethered on Sunday and was recovered after it landed outside the perimeter of the base, but she did not say if the helicopter ran into it.