Tag Archives: Army helicopter

Axios report on D.C. plane crash: ‘Deadliest aviation disaster in the US in more than 20 years’

wreckage in the Potomac

Important Takeaways:

  • Investigators have recovered the black boxes of the passenger jet and Army helicopter involved in a collision near Reagan National Airport outside D.C. — the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. in more than 20 years.
  • The big picture: The American Airlines passenger jet with 64 people on board and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers collided on Wednesday night, sending both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River. There are no known survivors.
  • The rescue mission shifted to a recovery operation early Thursday, but at least a dozen people were still missing by day’s end. Investigators are working to determine the exact cause of the crash.
  • The airport resumed flight operations Thursday morning, but dozens of flights have been delayed or cancelled since. Passengers were advised to check with their airlines for specific flight information.
  • Reagan National Airport has the country’s busiest runway — which has long caused concerns about overcrowding at the airport and understaffing among air traffic controllers, Axios D.C.’s Mimi Montgomery reports.
  • Situation report: The National Transportation Safety Board intends to have a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days, board member Todd Inman said during a briefing Thursday afternoon.
  • “We do not know enough facts to be able to rule in or out human factor, mechanical factors,” Inman said.
  • Visibility was good at the time of the crash, with winds blowing out of the northwest. An advisory for high winds had expired earlier in the evening.
  • Both the jet and the helicopter were following “standard flight patterns,” Duffy told reporters.
  • Hegseth noted the helicopter was manned by a “fairly experienced crew” that was appropriately equipped with night vision goggles.
  • It’s also not unusual to see Black Hawks flying low along the Potomac. This is some of America’s busiest airspaces due to the presence of both military and commercial aircraft.
  • What remains unclear is why the helicopter did not divert from its path and collided with the jet as it made its final descent.

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Army helicopter vaccine drop brings relief to tiny Irish island

By Clodagh Kilcoyne

ARRANMORE, Ireland (Reuters) – The army pilots landed their helicopter on the tiny Irish island of Arranmore just before lunch on Thursday and handed over their precious cargo of COVID-19 vaccines to Dr. Kevin Quinn and his grinning daughter Aoife.

The arrival of first batch of shots last month was a “joyous occasion,” Quinn said. Thursday’s delivery of second doses was even more momentous – he reckons he will now be able to fully vaccinate around half the population in the next few days.

With fewer than 500 residents, the remote island off the northwestern tip of Ireland is one of the hardest places to reach in a vaccination program that, like in the rest of the European Union, has been hampered by supply problems.

The two army pilots took one hour and 40 minutes to fly in from the Casement Aerodrome military air base on the outskirts of Dublin. Aoife, who works as a nurse on Arranmore, helped her father and the crew carry the frozen boxes of Moderna shots to his car, parked down a lane.

“We’re privileged to get the second doses so soon and grateful of the recognition of the unique need of isolated communities,” Quinn said after seeing the helicopter arrive.

“The mood was incredible after the first vaccine, a lovely joyous occasion and one of the best days I’ve had in general practice.”

Ireland has administered 536,000 vaccines among its population of 4.9 million to healthcare workers, care home residents and the most elderly. Just over 154,000 or 3% of the population have received the second of their two doses.

Army helicopters have also been deployed to drop vaccines to the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland.

Two Naval Ships docked in Dublin and Galway were used for temporary testing early in the pandemic, before officers ran a testing center at the national Aviva Stadium, with others redeployed to assist with contact tracing.

Personnel are now setting up and managing mass vaccination centers around the country and will soon be involved in the running of quarantine hotels.

For the people of Arranmore, half of whom are above the age of 60, some normality is at last on the horizon. The island is one of a small number of areas where the majority are fluent in native Irish and many use it as their working language.

“With an elderly population and a diaspora that mostly live in Dublin, Glasgow or America, it’s been extremely difficult,” said Quinn. “Hopefully this summer will be better than last.”

(Writing and additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Andrew Heavens)