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The service is often responsible for ferrying lawmakers and other V.I.P.’s across the area, and near Reagan National Airport.
- Jan. 30, 2025Updated 6:16 p.m. ET
The Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet near Washington on Wednesday was training near a busy airport, and in a complicated airway, because Army helicopters frequently ferry cabinet officials, lawmakers and other V.I.P.s across the area, Army officials said on Thursday.
The Black Hawk crew was among the Army’s most experienced, consisting of command pilots belonging to the 12th Aviation Battalion out of Fort Belvoir, Va. Those pilots routinely conduct both daytime and nighttime training runs in an air corridor next to Reagan National Airport.
The reason is simple, Army officials said on Thursday. The pilots have to train where they will be called on to fly.
In many ways, they said, the 12th Aviation Brigade is considered the V.I.P. taxi service of the federal government in Washington.
The brigade is particularly responsible for “continuity of government” missions, which include whisking cabinet officials to secure, undisclosed locations in national emergencies, like the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The passenger jet that the Black Hawk collided with was on its final approach to land at Reagan National Airport, officials said. Washington has some of the most restrictive air space in the country, and helicopters are supposed to stay below 200 feet as a way to separate them from fixed-wing planes.
