SPOKANE -- The Department of Defense says a 40-year-old Spokane soldier is among the seven victims of Monday's Army helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Military officials say 40-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyons of Spokane died when the MH-47 Chinook helicopter he was riding in crashed on October 26th near Darreh-ye Bum, Afghanistan while doing military operations.

The Department of Defense said Chief Warrant Officer Lyons and four other soldiers based out of Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia died in the crash, including fellow pilot 36-year-old Michael P. Montgomery who was from Redmond, Washington. The other two other soldiers were based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Chief Warrant Officer Lyons was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Regiment. He was a 1988 graduate of Shadle Park High School and a 1995 grad of Eastern Washington University.

Lyons volunteered for Army service in October of 1994 and after three years of enlistment was accepted into the Army's Warrant Officer Program at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Lyons graduated from flight school in 1999 and went on to be an instructor pilot for the 1-14th Aviation Battalion and an Aviation Warrant Officer Basic Course small group leader with the 1-145th Aviation Battalion.

Lyons was a combat veteran who had been on two deployments, one during Operation Iraqi Freedom and another in Operation Enduring Freedom. He was awarded many medals and awards in his Army tenure, including two Army Air Medals.

Lyons is survived by his son John of Dothan, Alabama; his parents John and Nuala Lyons; his brothers Sean and Kevin Lyons and his sister Burnadette Buck, all of Spokane.