For many, the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, like the one involved in the Wednesday collision over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., is familiar for one reason: the 2001 movie "Black Hawk Down ," based on the 1993 shooting down of U.S. Black Hawk helicopters during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.

The crew of a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that fatally struck a commercial airliner was assigned to a Virginia-based VIP transport unit and was performing an annual night proficiency flight at the time of the incident.

The military helicopter UH-60 'Black Hawk' and the American Airlines regional jet Bombardier CRJ700 that collided over Washington are aircraft commonly used worldwide. The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members,

A Black Hawk helicopter can transport up to "12 fully equipped, seated troops in combat," according to Lockheed Martin, the weapons company that builds the helicopter. There are about 5,000 of these helicopters in use by the United States Military.

The location where a PSA Airlines MHIRJ CRJ700 struck a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter on 29 January is a busy flight corridor for military rotorcraft.

Military spokesman Ron McLendon II said the Army is joining an investigation into the crash headed by the National Transportation Security Board.

An NTSB-led investigation is in full swing to identify factors that led to the Jan. 29 midair collision between an American Eagle Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by PSA Airlines on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter.

The American Airlines jet was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members when it collided with Black Hawk Army helicopter built by Connecticut's Sikorsky.

Multiple fatalities have been reported after a horrific incident involving American Airlines flight 5342 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over

A passenger plane carrying 64 people has collided midair with a military helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC. The PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 jet collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at around 9pm on Wednesday (02:00 GMT Thursday), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

Lights from emergency vehicles are seen at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, after an air crash near the Potomac River on Jan. 29, 2025. "I am on site at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation," Duffy wrote. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she is "actively" in contact with authorities regarding the crash.