New York National Guard soldiers with ties to the Capital Region were killed Friday in a helicopter crash at the U.S. Mexico border.
Two New York Army National Guard pilots and a U.S. Border Patrol agent died when their chopper went down along the U.S.- Mexico border in Texas. Division of Military and Naval Affairs spokesperson Major Jean Marie Kratzer is with the New York National Guard.
"Chief Warrant Officer 2 Casey Frankoski, 28 years old. She is a resident of Rensselaer, New York, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Grassia, age 30. He is resident of Schenectady, New York. Frankoski has been part of the New York Army National Guard since 2016. She's been part of aviation now the past couple of years and Grassia, he has served in the Army National Guard since 2012," said Kratzer.
Grassia was a New York State Trooper assigned to Troop G in Montgomery County. The border patrol agent was identified as 49-year old Chris Luna of Edinburg, Texas.
Rensselaer Mayor Mike Stammel says Frankoski is the daughter of former Rensselaer Police Chief James Frankoski. Another city resident, Sergeant Jacob Pratt, was badly hurt in the crash.
"Anytime we lose, say, a soldier from doing their civic duty to help this country and protect this country, it is definitely a loss that we can never get back and we can never pay tribute enough to her for the service that her and her comrades in that helicopter had suffered," Stammel said. "And we wish her family well here in the city of Rensselaer and as well as the families of all the all the people, even Jacob Pratt who is severely injured our prayers are for him who is going under multiple surgeries from what I understand."
Kratzer says the UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopter the group was flying in went down near Rio Grande City.
"The soldiers were assigned to a detachment right here in Latham as operating part of Joint Task Force North. It's a military unit, which has been supporting the Customs and Border Protection operations that have been currently on the southwest border. The detachment that they went with, specializes in flying missions and supports the civil agencies. There's been 21 soldiers from that unit that has been deployed there to Texas since October of 2023," Kratzer said.
Judging from past experience, Kratzer says a full investigation into the crash will take time. “So unfortunately, we had a helicopter crash in the New York National Guard a few years back, that accent just kind of speaking through the timeline of that the accident occurred and it did take like three to six months to get a final answer and what exactly happened with the crash? Typically, we are part of the New York Army National Guard, we are part of the National Guard, what happens is, the active duty will send investigators in typical activity always investigates helicopter crashes. So right now, the active duty military component, we'll investigate the accident and hopefully we'll get further answers on what specifically happened in the next few months. But, but last time, it did take three to six months to get actual answers and to figure out what happened,” said Kratzer.
Kratzer says the aircraft that crashed was not one of the two UH-72s operated by the New York Army National Guard. It was assigned to the District of Columbia Army National Guard.
"As of right now, you know, we're just we're just giving our prayers to the families you know, here locally, I know the families have sent out some social media posts and just thanking everyone for their support and love through this incredibly hard time. But again, with Sergeant Pratt we are praying for a quick recovery of him. And again, you know, with our senior leadership here, our deepest condolences will go out to the family and friends of those service members that pass and also that U.S. Customs Border Patrol agent who was also killed," Kratzer said.
