Army Black Hawk Collides with Passenger Jet Over Potomac River Near DC

[1LoverofGod]

Black Hawk in DC plane crash was practicing top-secret ‘continuity of government mission’ in case of attack on US​

The doomed military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight over Washington, DC, Wednesday night was conducting training to prepare for a catastrophic event or attack on the US, according to officials.

The crew aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk chopper, the 12th Aviation Battalion, is responsible for top-secret evacuation missions meant to whisk top US officials from DC to secure locations in the case of a national emergency such as a terrorist or nuclear attack.

In a press conference on Thursday night, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the soldiers “were on a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission.”

He said he couldn’t reveal further details on “anything that’s classified.”

“The military does dangerous things,” Hegseth added. “It does routine things on a regular basis.”


More

Black Hawk in DC plane crash was practicing top-secret ‘continuity of government mission’ in case of attack on US

The military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight this week was conducting training to prepare for a catastrophe or attack on the US.

nypost.com

 

[Andy C]

Black Hawk in DC plane crash was practicing top-secret ‘continuity of government mission’ in case of attack on US​

The doomed military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight over Washington, DC, Wednesday night was conducting training to prepare for a catastrophic event or attack on the US, according to officials.

The crew aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk chopper, the 12th Aviation Battalion, is responsible for top-secret evacuation missions meant to whisk top US officials from DC to secure locations in the case of a national emergency such as a terrorist or nuclear attack.

In a press conference on Thursday night, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the soldiers “were on a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission.”

He said he couldn’t reveal further details on “anything that’s classified.”

“The military does dangerous things,” Hegseth added. “It does routine things on a regular basis.”


More

Black Hawk in DC plane crash was practicing top-secret ‘continuity of government mission’ in case of attack on US

The military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight this week was conducting training to prepare for a catastrophe or attack on the US.

nypost.com

This gives a little more clarity on this tragic accident.

 

[Andy C]

The Army released the name of the third soldier

Third soldier inside Black Hawk helicopter involved in DC midair collision identified

The third soldier aboard a Black Hawk helicopter on a training mission when it collided with an American Airlines jet over Washington, D.C., Wednesday has been identified.

www.foxnews.com

 

[mattfivefour]

So sad for the families of these soldiers. Given the critical mission nature of this training flight, I am guessing that Capt. Lobach was the co-pilot, since it is my understanding that 500 hours at the controls is not considered to be a large amount of flight time in the military.

 

[Kem]

Apparently the Blackhawk was flying significantly higher than it was allowed and also veered off course. The social media of the pilot was scrubbed before the announcement of the pilot's name was announced. Draw whatever conclusion you like from this but I sure hope they release the data recovered from the voice recorder.

Pilots tried to pull passenger jet’s nose up within seconds of deadly DC helicopter collision, preliminary NTSB data shows

The American Airlines flight involved in the deadly collision with a Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, DC, seemed to increase its pitch just before the impact, preliminary data from a voice data recorder recovered from the plane shows.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Tall Timbers]

Upthread I said "it appeared" to be on purpose. I'll double down on that and say I think it was a murder/suicide. Very sad. For aviators night flying around an airfield can be confusing with all the lights and whatnot along with the air traffic. But this crew was experienced enough flying in the area. Conversation inside the helicopter would be interesting to review.

 

[mattfivefour]

I sure hope you are wrong, brother. I understand that the PIC was a low time pilot on a training flight. I believe she had just 500 hours under her belt. To fly a highly complex route at night time in such a high traffic area might have been more than she could handle. I believe the investigation is taking a close look at her.

 

[Tall Timbers]

I sure hope you are wrong, brother. I understand that the PIC was a low time pilot on a training flight. I believe she had just 500 hours under her belt. To fly a highly complex route at night time in such a high traffic area might have been more than she could handle. I believe the investigation is taking a close look at her.

500 hours isn't that low, especially for a helicopter pilot. She may have been retraining in the position though since she spent a couple years doing other stuff in the White House. I hope I'm wrong too.

 

[mattfivefour]

500 hours isn't that low, especially for a helicopter pilot.

I was basing my "low time" comment on what other military pilots have said about a 500 hour pilot. But being an Air Force major you would know a lot better than I. Thank you for the correction.

 

[Tall Timbers]

I was basing my "low time" comment on what other military pilots have said about a 500 hour pilot. But being an Air Force major you would know a lot better than I. Thank you for the correction.

Helicopters typically don't stay up in the air that long, though they can... so she should have had a lot of experience taking off, landing, flying around the airport she was flying towards... I'd guess she has a whole mess of sorties that are around an hour long or maybe even less.

BUT, if she hasn't been flying for the last two years and is just getting back in to it she was probably real rusty. You lose your edge when you're not using those skills. It's a little more complicated than riding a bicycle.

 

[Margery]

Upthread I said "it appeared" to be on purpose. I'll double down on that and say I think it was a murder/suicide. Very sad. For aviators night flying around an airfield can be confusing with all the lights and whatnot along with the air traffic. But this crew was experienced enough flying in the area. Conversation inside the helicopter would be interesting to review.

Praying for the family of the pilot. And for all the victims families.

Apparently the Blackhawk was flying significantly higher than it was allowed and also veered off course. The social media of the pilot was scrubbed before the announcement of the pilot's name was announced. Draw whatever conclusion you like from this but I sure hope they release the data recovered from the voice recorder.

Pilots tried to pull passenger jet’s nose up within seconds of deadly DC helicopter collision, preliminary NTSB data shows

The American Airlines flight involved in the deadly collision with a Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, DC, seemed to increase its pitch just before the impact, preliminary data from a voice data recorder recovered from the plane shows.

www.yahoo.com

They might be bracing for the fallout when the voice recording is allowed out. They may know something more about her state of mind, and the fact that her name wasn't released right away might be a clue.

Hoping you are wrong, as you are too.

 

[Tall Timbers]

Praying for the family of the pilot. And for all the victims families.

They might be bracing for the fallout when the voice recording is allowed out. They may know something more about her state of mind, and the fact that her name wasn't released right away might be a clue.

Hoping you are wrong, as you are too.

If I'm right, and there is evidence of that on the black box recording, they may not release that to the public. They'd probably just call it pilot error or something.

The reason I'm thinking the way I am is there doesn't appear to be any deviation even at the last moment from running into the plane. Thus, either the crew was extremely distracted or it was likely intentional on the part of whoever was controlling the helicopter.

 

[Shinobi]

Black Hawk in DC plane crash was practicing top-secret ‘continuity of government mission’ in case of attack on US​

The doomed military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight over Washington, DC, Wednesday night was conducting training to prepare for a catastrophic event or attack on the US, according to officials.

The crew aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk chopper, the 12th Aviation Battalion, is responsible for top-secret evacuation missions meant to whisk top US officials from DC to secure locations in the case of a national emergency such as a terrorist or nuclear attack.

In a press conference on Thursday night, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the soldiers “were on a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission.”

He said he couldn’t reveal further details on “anything that’s classified.”

“The military does dangerous things,” Hegseth added. “It does routine things on a regular basis.”


More

Black Hawk in DC plane crash was practicing top-secret ‘continuity of government mission’ in case of attack on US

The military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight this week was conducting training to prepare for a catastrophe or attack on the US.

nypost.com

I call hogwash on this article. I base that on two simple facts. The picture of the man they claim is was the pilot is said to be Warrant Officer 2 and yet he has no Warrant Officer rank insignia his shoulders but does have on his sleeve the rank of Staff Sergeant. Add to that that the wings insignia on his chest are not those of a helicopter pilot. In fact I can find nothing in the current use of wings from pilots to crew chiefs.

I add to this a man I trust when he speaks of things military. He was in his Navy career was a RIO in Tomcats (F14s). He is well versed in most things in military aviation and still has active duty contacts that he confers with. Here is his take on the event. He makes a great case for missed identification of which commercial plane they were watching and gives good evidence of how it was easy to miss the one they hit for one that had taken off shortly before had as the hit is more of a T-bone hit where lights are harder to see as they are point 90 degrees or more away from their field of view.

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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[Ghoti Ichthus]

I call hogwash on this article. I base that on two simple facts. The picture of the man they claim is was the pilot is said to be Warrant Officer 2 and yet he has no Warrant Officer rank insignia his shoulders but does have on his sleeve the rank of Staff Sergeant. Add to that that the wings insignia on his chest are not those of a helicopter pilot. In fact I can find nothing in the current use of wings from pilots to crew chiefs.

I add to this a man I trust when he speaks of things military. He was in his Navy career was a RIO in Tomcats (F14s). He is well versed in most things in military aviation and still has active duty contacts that he confers with. Here is his take on the event. He makes a great case for missed identification of which commercial plane they were watching and gives good evidence of how it was easy to miss the one they hit for one that had taken off shortly before had as the hit is more of a T-bone hit where lights are harder to see as they are point 90 degrees or more away from their field of view.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

The names with the individuals in the photos in the article may have been inadvertently flipped. The people in Photo 1 and Photo 2 don't look to be the same person.

 

[Tall Timbers]

Two Reagan National Airport Employees Were Just Arrested. Here's Why.​

Two Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) employees were arrested for allegedly leaking footage of last week’s horrific mid-air aviation collision at Reagan National Airport to CNN.

Reportedly, both men are accused of making an unauthorized copy of Airports Authority records. Officials did not specify how the footage was obtained or distributed. It is unknown at this time if the individuals sold the video or handed it over for free.

Two Reagan National Airport Employees Were Just Arrested. Here's Why.

townhall.com

 

[Tall Timbers]

I call hogwash on this article. I base that on two simple facts. The picture of the man they claim is was the pilot is said to be Warrant Officer 2 and yet he has no Warrant Officer rank insignia his shoulders but does have on his sleeve the rank of Staff Sergeant. Add to that that the wings insignia on his chest are not those of a helicopter pilot. In fact I can find nothing in the current use of wings from pilots to crew chiefs.

I wonder if that could be an earlier picture of the guy before he became a WO2 and a helicopter pilot. I tried to find a match for the wings in the pic. While it gets blurry when I expand the pic it appears that the wings are for "enlisted aviation warfare specialist".

 

[Shinobi]

I wonder if that could be an earlier picture of the guy before he became a WO2 and a helicopter pilot. I tried to find a match for the wings in the pic. While it gets blurry when I expand the pic it appears that the wings are for "enlisted aviation warfare specialist".

I may have been hasty. I did find a picture of a WO2 with his bars in a Blues uniform with the same number of lines of ribbons and what looks like the same wings. I have been through lots and lots of wing badges and the only place I can find those wings is with the Navy. Not saying he does not have authorization to wear them as he may have been Navy enlisted at one time. So those may be legit Navy wings just as I wore both USMC and Army good conduct medals in my Army Class A's. When I looked at his ribbons, the entire top row is Navy starting with a Navy Commendation medal, a Navy Achievement medal, and a Navy Good conduct medal. That same row shows up in the picture I did see with him wearing his WO2 bars. My bad.

I guess I have seen to many stolen valor videos and I tend to key off on things when they are so obvious such as a given rank not matching what I can see.

I would guess that since only the Army lets WO's fly he changed over to become a pilot. Not out of the question. The Navy like the AF you have to be commissioned officer rank of Lt. and up. What I find strange still though is he is a pilot and yet I do not see his Army pilot wings. So given my crossing services and dealing with prior service awards in an Army Uniform it makes sense him having Navy Wings since he also has Navy awards as well. As you say it is likely the best image they have of him probably from his service record when he transferred to the Navy. If that is the case his Army Wings had not yet likely been awarded till he passed flight school.

 

[LightOfMyLife]

All 64 Black Hawk plane people have been found, and the 3 soldiers on the helicopter as well.

 

[Andy C]

I watched a local news station in the area of the crash cover a touching story. When the body of the enlisted crew chief was recovered, and placed in a temporary makeshift morgue near the crash site, a rookie fireman noticed the body was in an army uniform. The fireman, a former active duty Marine, stopped what he was doing, and stood guard over the body for four hours until the body could be properly transferred.

 

[Margery]

I watched a local news station in the area of the crash cover a touching story. When the body of the enlisted crew chief was recovered, and placed in a temporary makeshift morgue near the crash site, a rookie fireman noticed the body was in an army uniform. The fireman, a former active duty Marine, stopped what he was doing, and stood guard over the body for four hours until the body could be properly transferred.

That brings tears to my eyes! Good man! God bless him for his kindness to the fallen soldier and the family grieving.