On Wednesday, January 25, 2023, a fatal traffic accident occurred in Mary Esther involving an Okaloosa County school bus and a motorcycle. 

• The crash took place on Highway 98 and Avenue Due Fontainebleau in Mary Esther around 2:30 p.m.

According to Okaloosa School District Public Information Officer, Catherine Card, the school bus was carrying 5 students from Fort Walton Beach High School at the time of the crash. 

• The students, along with the bus driver, were checked out by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and parents of the students came to the scene to transport them home.
• None of the students nor the bus driver were seriously injured, according to the OCSD. However, the driver of the motorcycle died. 

Details surrounding the crash were not released by Wednesday night and is currently being investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol. 

And while the identity of the motorcycle driver has not been made public, we do know the driver was an AFSOC Airman. In a statement on Wednesday night, Colonel Allison Black, commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt, said the following:

• “I know this will have a significant impact to all our teammates and families throughout our community. This type of news is never easy to digest, and never easy to accept. Please lean on each other during this time of grieving and use our resources ….Chaplain, first sergeants, Military OneSource, MFLACs and other helping agencies are here to help us process this tragedy.”

Col. Black went on to ask the community to “please respect the privacy of the member and family by not disclosing their identities as next-of-kin notifications are taking place.”

“Our community stands ready to support all of you,” she added.