The doomed navy helicopter that collided with an American Airways flight over Washington, DC, Wednesday night time was conducting coaching to organize for a catastrophic occasion or assault on the US, in response to officers.
The crew aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk chopper, the twelfth Aviation Battalion, is accountable for top-secret evacuation missions meant to whisk high US officers from DC to safe areas within the case of a nationwide emergency reminiscent of a terrorist or nuclear assault.
In a press convention on Thursday night time, US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the troopers “had been on a routine, annual re-training of night time flights on a typical hall for a continuity of presidency mission.”
He stated he couldn’t reveal additional particulars on “something that’s categorised.”
“The navy does harmful issues,” Hegseth added. “It does routine issues frequently.”
Sometimes, crews just like the one killed on the Black Hawk transport Washington elites out and in of the closely trafficked airspace round Reagan Nationwide Airport, one of many busiest within the nation, in response to studies.
The Military has come underneath scrutiny for permitting pilots to coach at night time close to a heavy-traffic airport, and in a chopper that was not outfitted with new know-how that might have alerted air site visitors management to its path.
However officers, together with Hegseth, have pointed to the delicate nature of such operations.
“It is advisable rehearse in ways in which would replicate a real-world situation,” Hegseth stated.
The chopper was touring alongside a core coaching route however was flying practically twice as excessive as aviation tips allow.
Employees Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, and an unidentified feminine pilot had been all aboard the helicopter when it collided midair with an American Airways flight on Wednesday.
The fiery crash despatched each plane plunging into Washington, DC’s Potomac River, additionally killing all 64 individuals aboard the passenger jet.
The final recognized time a continuity of operations mission was activated was on on Sept. 11, 2001, when high-ranking officers had been transported to websites together with Raven Rock Mountain Advanced, or “Web site R,” positioned close to Camp David.
It stays certainly one of three authorities backup amenities and the first one for the Pentagon management.
With Put up wires
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