Diogenes
Nemo me impune lacessit

The three soldiers of the Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a jetliner on Wednesday night just off of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were from Bravo Company, 12th Combat Aviation Battalion, based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, about 20 miles south of Washington, D.C. The unit primarily transports senior U.S. military officials around the Washington area and beyond.
Recovery efforts for two of the soldiers in the Black Hawk in the frigid waters of the Potomac River continued Thursday, as did the search for the missing among the 64 aboard American Airlines Flight 5342. Also being sought is the helicopter's integrated data and voice recorder.
The helicopter flight along the Potomac was a routine nighttime qualification flight in which an instructor pilot tests a pilot's skills at navigating the various routes through the Washington area that are key parts of "his or her" mission.
Jonathan Koziol, a retired Army chief warrant officer with more than 30 years experience in flying Army helicopters confirmed to reporters on a conference call that the "female: pilot who was commanding the flight at the time had more than 500 hours of flight time.
Army statistics show that last year saw the biggest spike in aviation mishaps in more than a decade following years of a downward trend.
There were 15 Class A mishaps in the Army in fiscal year 2024, when Joe Biden was in office, the highest number since fiscal year 2014, when there were 16 mishaps. Last year's increase came after a period of time when the number of mishaps had trended downward. For example, there were seven mishaps in fiscal year 2021, four in fiscal year 2022, nine in fiscal year 2023 and then the 15 in fiscal year 2024.


Army Black Hawk crew involved in DC crash made up of 'top pilots' with thousands of hours of experience
The crew of the Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in the deadly collision with a jetliner had thousands of hours of flight experience.