Airman heading to assignment here killed in Oregon crash

A 21-year-old Airman traveling to his new assignment at Mountain Home Air Force Base was killed Feb. 19 when his vehicle rolled over on Oregon Highway 95, approximately 122 miles west of Mountain Home.

Senior Airman Eugene Ardissono, who had just completed a two-year assignment as an F-15 aircraft maintainer with the 48th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom, was en route to Mountain Home AFB following two weeks of leave with family in his hometown of Fremont, Calif.

Airman Ardissono was to be assigned with the wing's 366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron.

According to an Oregon State Police statement, the accident occurred as Airman Ardissono was traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 95.

While the cause of the crash is still under investigation, OSP officers and collision reconstruction specialists have determined that the vehicle drifted into the southbound lane, at which time he overcorrected, his steering resulting in the vehicle rolling multiple times before coming to a rest upright on the highway.

Airman Ardissono was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was wearing a seatbelt.