Man killed in Trappers Loop motorcycle crash earlier this month identified as Hill AFB airman
This undated photo shows a memorial table presented at a service for fallen Airman 1st Class Joseph D. Blattel at Hill Air Force Base.
In this undated photo, members of the 388th Fighter Wing salute an F-35 as it returns from flying a flag in honor of Airman 1st Class Joseph D. Blattel at Hill Air Force Base.
HILL AIR FORCE BASE — A 19-year-old man who was killed after crashing his motorcycle in Huntsville earlier this month has been identified as an airman from Hill Air Force Base.
Micah Garbarino, spokesperson with the 388th Fighter Wing, said Joseph D. Blattel, an airman first class and F-35 tactical aircraft maintenance specialist with Hill’s 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, died Sunday, Aug. 16, in Hunstville when his motorcycle crashed on State Route 167, the Trappers Loop Highway.
A memorial was held at Hill last week, with family and friends of Blattel gathered on base to remember the young airman’s life. According to a news release from the 388th FW, Blattel was from Las Vegas and had been assigned to the wing since February.
As part of the services at Hill, Lt. Col. Aarovn Cavazos, 34th Fighter Squadron commander, flew a memorial F-35 flight that was launched by Blattel’s fellow maintainers and closest friends. During the flight, Cavazos carried flags that were later presented to Blattel’s family.
“We were all deeply saddened this week over the loss of Airman Blattel,” 388th FW Commander Steven Behmer said in a statement. “We paused a portion of our operations for a day … to give our airmen space to grieve. Our thoughts and prayers have been with Joseph’s family and his teammates in the 34th AMU.”
Blattel’s crash was the second motorcycle-related fatality on S.R. 167 this year.
On the morning of May 17, another Sunday, Richard Hansen, 77, of Clearfield, was traveling northbound on the Trappers Loop Highway, near milepost 8, when he ran off the right side of the road and onto a grass hillside. A medical helicopter was dispatched to the site, but Hansen sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
The Utah Department of Transportation completed a repaving the highway two years ago. The project covered the entire length of the road, from Mountain Green to Huntsville, and included the installation of a new guardrail designed specifically to improve safety for motorcyclists.