US Pentagon probes crash by ‘experienced’ Black Hawk crew, halts flights

The US Army helicopter involved in an overnight collision with a passenger jet near Washington involved a “fairly experienced crew” that was operating with night vision goggles, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Jan 30, as the Pentagon ordered a 48-hour pause in flying for the unit involved in the crash. In addition, Mr Daniel Driscoll, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Army secretary, told a Senate hearing that the crash on the night of Jan 29 appears to have been preventable, and he raised questions about whether training should take place near a busy airport. The Black Hawk helicopter struck an American Airlines passenger jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, with both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River. Authorities have said there were no survivors. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The airport is located in Arlington, Virginia, across the river from Washington. In a video statement, Hegseth said there was a crew of three soldiers on the training flight. Officials have not identified the soldiers involved. “It was a fairly experienced crew and it was doing a required annual night evaluation,” Hegseth said in the video.<br/>