By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A Kansas Air National Guard member from Salina is dead after a rollover accident on the Smoky Hill Weapons Range west of the city Tuesday afternoon.
Two other Kansas Air National Guard members suffered significant injuries, Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said this morning.
All three were assigned to the Kansas Air National Guard 184th Wing out of Wichita, according to information from the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.
Soldan said all three men were ejected when the Humvee they were in rolled, coming to rest on its top in the area of Parsons Road.
Other Kansas Air National Guard personnel discovered the wreck when the three men did not arrive at their destination, he said. It is believed the rollover occurred at approximately 2 p.m. Saline County deputies and Salina EMS personnel were dispatched to the scene at 2:18 p.m. Tuesday.
Wesley Kubie, 30, of Salina, who was a backseat passenger in the Humvee, was picked up by LifeStar to be flown to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, but died in route, Soldan said.
The driver of the Humvee, Jaden Johnson, 23, of Salina, and Cole Frederick, 28, of Topeka, who was in the front passenger seat, were transported to Salina Regional Health Center with significant injuries, Soldan said.
The cause of the accident had not yet been determined.
"Today we lost a member of our family under unfortunate circumstances," said Col. Jason Knobbe, commander, 184th Wing. "We share in the sorrow felt by his loved ones and we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and fellow Guardsmen. We will continue caring for the injured Airmen and provide assistance to their loved ones. Their health, safety and well-being is our top priority."