United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that Wednesday night’s air collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter occurred while the helicopter drove a training mission. Routine, but added that “a mistake was made” during training.
“No excuses. Let’s get to the bottom of it, ”said Hegseth.
The helicopter carried three military personnel and participated in an “annual night flight routine training in a standard corridor for continuity of the government mission,” said the secretary.
“The military do dangerous things. They do routinely dangerous things. Tragically, last night, a mistake was made, ”said Hegseth.
“There was some kind of elevation problem that we began to investigate immediately at the level of the Defense Department and the Army,” he said.
Training for “government continuity” missions are routine exercises that military and other federal agencies lead to ensure that the federal government can operate in the event of a natural disaster or caused by man threatening or reaching the Washington area. Helicopters are essential for transporting certain government leaders to safe places in case of catastrophe.
Soldiers who piloted the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the Wednesday accident were from the 12th Army Aviation Battalion.
