Capt David A. Wisniewski, 31, an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter pilot with the 66th Rescue Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., died July 2 of wounds that he sustained June 9 in a Pave Hawk crash in southeastern Afghanistan. Wisniewski succumbed to his wounds at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He is the fifth rescue airman to die as a result of the June 9 crash. Two other rescue airmen from Nellis who were injured in the crash continue to recover from their wounds at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Wisniewski, of Moville, Iowa, was a 2002 Air Force Academy graduate. He had logged more than 1,500 flight hours, including 289 combat hours, during his eight-year career, and was credited with saving numerous lives. (Nellis report) (DOD release)
The Air Force has begun flying its CV-22 Ospreys again. But that is just the start of a multi-step process to return the fleet to normal operations following a deadly crash last year, the service says.