The Pentagon has banned all service members of the unit whose helicopter collided with a passenger plane from flying for 48 hours.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger plane near Washington was on a training flight and was flown by a “fairly experienced crew” with night vision goggles. At the same time, the Pentagon ordered a 48-hour grounding for the Virginia unit whose pilots flew the helicopter that crashed.
Reuters reports this.
In addition, Daniel Driscoll, the nominee for Secretary of the Army, said at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the crash on Wednesday night likely could have been prevented.
“What I see on TV is what I think you see. This is an accident that, from what we can tell you today, could have been prevented,” Driscoll said senators.
Driscoll added that if he is confirmed, special attention will be paid to the culture of safety in the military. He raised the question of whether the exercise should be conducted near a busy airport.
“I think we might need to think about where we should take risks in an exercise, and that might not be appropriate near a facility like Reagan Airport,” Driscoll added.
The cause of the crash is under investigation at press time and has not yet been determined.
“We expect the investigation to quickly determine whether the aircraft was in the corridor and at the proper altitude at the time of the incident,” Hegseth said.
The helicopter belonged to the 12th Aviation Battalion, which is based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The unit is responsible for helicopter flights in the US capital area and can be used to transport high-ranking US government officials.
The publication notes that the order to suspend flights is a common practice for the US military after accidents.
Recall that as a result of the plane crash that occurred in Washington on the evening of Wednesday, January 29, all people on board the passenger plane and the military helicopter, which collided in the air, died.
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