The U.S. Army National Guard says the three soldiers killed last week when their helicopter crashed in Mendon were all stationed at 1st Batallion’s C Company in the 171st General Support Aviation Batallion, based at the Rochester Airport.
They were Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steven Skoda of Rochester, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch of Honeoye Falls, who also doubled as a State Police helicopter pilot, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Prial of Rochester.
Their UH-60 Black Hawk was on a routine training mission when something went wrong, and the aircraft fell into a field in Mendon, narrowly missing several houses. The occupants credit the pilots with guiding the helicopter into an open field.