Senior Airman Logan Staib performs maintenance on an HH-60W Pave Hawk during an exercise at Avon Park, Fla., July 23, 2022. (Deanna Muir/U.S. Air Force)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — An airman assigned to Kadena Air Base died Tuesday evening after his motorcycle collided with a car in the northern Okinawa city of Nago, according to Japanese police.
Senior Airman Logan Riley Staib, 23, was southbound on Route 331 in the Futamisugita tunnel around 7:10 p.m. when he lost control of his red and black Triumph Speed Triple and was struck head-on by a gray Toyota Aqua, an Okinawa prefectural police spokesman said by phone Wednesday.
Staib was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead at 8:42 p.m., the spokesman said. Some government officials in Japan may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
The Futamisugita tunnel in Nago, Okinawa, is pictured on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
A Toyota Aqua sits damaged at the police station in Nago, Okinawa, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
The Aqua’s driver, an unidentified 30-year-old man from Ginowan city, was uninjured, the spokesman said.
Staib was riding alone when he entered the tunnel about five minutes north of the Marine Corps’ Camp Schwab, the spokesman said. Staib was in a straightaway when he lost control and laid down the motorcycle.
The airman was then struck by the front driver’s side of the Aqua, the spokesman said.
A witness called the fire department at 7:15 p.m. and said Staib was unconscious, a fire department spokesman said Wednesday by phone.
The incident is under investigation; police have not determined if Staib was drinking prior to the crash, the spokesman said.
A Triumph Speed Triple sits damaged at the police station in Nago, Okinawa, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
There were 41 motorcycle deaths on Okinawa between 2017 and 2021, the spokesman said. He did not know how many of those were U.S. service members.
Army Sgt. Nathaniel Ballor, 25, died Nov. 4 after his motorcycle crashed into a car at an intersection in Chatan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Torii Station.
