HM1 Brad K. Tucker

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Brad K. Tucker
US Navy SEAL

A 30-year-old SEAL fell to his death during a late-night helicopter special operations exercise on March 10 in the Bahamas. Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Brad K. Tucker, 30, of Spring, Texas, died from injuries suffered during a 160-foot fall into the water from an Army MH-60 helicopter, according to Lt. Ron Hill of Naval Special Warfare Group Two. Another SEAL who fell, Operations Specialist 2nd Class Michael J. Brunst, 25, of Phoenix, Ariz., was in stable condition at a Miami hospital on March 16. The two men were assigned to SEAL Team 4 out of Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Va. The team was on a routine deployment with Naval Special Warfare Unit 4 in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. According to Hill, the accident took place during a "k-duck" exercise, in which an inflatable boat fastened to the underside of a helicopter flying at an altitude of 5 to 10 feet is released into the water. SEALs then jump from the helicopter's side into the water to man the boat and continue the operation.

At 10:30 p.m., the helicopter was approaching the drop zone and, for reasons still unknown, dropped the boat from an altitude of 160 feet. The two SEALs also fell. Investigators still don't know exactly what happened. "They're trying to determine whether the guys thought that was the signal to go, or whether the boat somehow caused them to fall out," Hill said. Tucker and Brunst were the only SEALs who fell, he said. Tucker was killed by the impact, Hill said. The men were pulled from the water by the patrol craft Monsoon. Tucker leaves behind a wife and 3-year-old daughter. He was buried in his hometown March 15; a memorial service was held at Little Creek two days later.