Aviation experts say piloting Black Hawk helicopters is a complex challenge but army defends training operations

In March 2023, two US army Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed into a Kentucky farmer’s field after a nighttime evacuation training mission, killing nine service members.

That crash was among a dozen fatal crashes during army Black Hawk training missions since 2014 that claimed the lives of 47 service members and in April 2023 helped prompt Pentagon officials to temporarily ground and provide more training to all army aviators not involved in critical missions.

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© Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters

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© Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters

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

The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, indicated multiple jihadists were killed and no civilians were harmed

The US military has conducted airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the country during Donald Trump’s second term as president.

The strikes were carried out against IS-Somalia in the Golis Mountains, in Somalia’s semi-autonomous northern Puntland region. In 2015, IS-Somalia splintered from al-Shabaab, a much larger and more widely known jihadist organisation affiliated with al-Qaida, which controls parts of southern Somalia.

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© Photograph: AP

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© Photograph: AP

Other swaps due to new ‘rotation’ include NPR for Breitbart, NBC for One America News and Politico for HuffPost

The Trump administration’s program to shake up media representation at official briefings and press calls in Washington is set to affect the Pentagon, with credentialed media being rotated out of assigned workspaces for media newcomers.

The conservative-leaning One America News Network will replace NBC News, Breitbart will be given space held by National Public Radio, the New York Post has been offered the New York Times’ workspace and HuffPost will replace Politico.

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© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Secretary of defense says mission was for evacuating government officials in the event of a catastrophe or attack

Top US officials have said the military helicopter that collided with a passenger jet over the Potomac River on Wednesday was on a training mission for evacuating members of government in the event of a catastrophe or attack.

The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, told Fox News that the helicopter was performing a “continuity of government” drill designed to help pilots “rehearse in ways that would reflect a real-world scenario”. Hegseth declined to elaborate, saying he didn’t want to get “into anything that’s classified”.

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© Photograph: Ken Cedeno/UPI/REX/Shutterstock

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© Photograph: Ken Cedeno/UPI/REX/Shutterstock