Christian Koch never would have kept them waiting.
On Wednesday evening, when Koch s family first heard rumblings on social media about a military helicopter that crashed in Mendon, they tried to call him.
Two helicopters had gone out for a training exercise that night, said his sister-in-law Aimee Koch. Frantically, they tried to figure out which aircraft he was on. It became increasingly clear as we tried to reach him by cellphone that he was involved, she said. Christian never would have made anybody worry. . As time went by and we didn t get that call, we knew.
Koch, 39, died Wednesday along with two other New York Army National Guard soldiers when their UH-60 medical evacuation helicopter crashed while on a routine training mission just after 6:30 p.m.