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Tag: helicopters

  • FAA Could Have Prevented Fatal D.C. Plane Collision, Investigation Finds

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    A National Transportation Safety Board review of the mid-air collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet in January 2025 found that the Federal Aviation Administration was plagued by systemic safety issues in the lead-up to the accident that killed 67 people.

    “The Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Organization had multiple opportunities to identify the risk of a mid-air collision between airplanes and helicopters at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. However, their data analysis, safety assurance, and risk assessment processes failed to recognize and mitigate that risk,” the board shared in findings.

    The investigation suggests that the helicopter route was dangerously close to the path taken by civilian aircraft. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said that the FAA was supposed to conduct annual safety reviews of helicopter routes, but the board was unable to find evidence of such reviews taking place.

    The NTSB also notified the FAA of 15,214 close-proximity events, 85 of which were serious. The investigators said at a hearing on Tuesday that reviews of such near-collisions were done on a case-by-case basis.

    “The data was in their own systems,” Homendy told reporters. “This was 100% preventable.”

    There wasn’t a positive safety culture at the FAA’s operational arm, Air Traffic Organization, NTSB investigators said, with some employees reporting facing retaliation for raising safety concerns.

    Although safety concerns were raised over mid-air collisions in the D.C. airspace, investigators said, the Air Traffic Organization failed to respond to these concerns. Tower personnel also put together their own helicopter working group to “repeatedly” raise concerns and submit recommendations, Homendy said.

    At the hearing, Homendy also said that there were “some concerns with an overreliance on AI by the FAA,” but stopped short of making any connection between the incident and AI use.

    “They’ve got to be careful on the use of AI to pick up trends, to make sure it doesn’t discount some reports,” Homendy said. According to NTSB’s chief data scientist Loren Groff, the FAA has been using AI to sort through large volumes of pilot reports.

    “There really does need to be a human understanding of what all of these things mean together,” Groff said.

    The chair also signaled that the FAA has yet to learn from its mistakes.

    “Commercial airlines have called me to say the next mid-air is going to be in Burbank, and nobody at the FAA is paying attention to us,” Homendy said.

    The investigators said that the FAA still does not have a standardized definition of what constitutes a close-proximity event.

    On top of inadequate safety measures by the FAA, the Army’s aviation safety system was also riddled with failures, the report found. The army failed to allocate adequate resources to aviation safety management for D.C. area helicopter operations and also lacked a positive safety culture, according to investigators.

    The close call issue in aviation is something that the NTSB has been ringing alarm bells over for years. Back in 2023, Homendy told a U.S. Senate panel that there was an increase in serious near-miss aviation incidents, and it was a symptom of a strained aviation system.

    “We cannot wait until a fatal accident forces action,” Homendy said at the time.

    What happened on Jan. 29?

    On January 29th, 2025, over the Potomac River in Washington D.C., an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into an American Airlines regional flight from Wichita, Kansas, as it was about to land in Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. The incident has been deemed the deadliest plane crash in the country since 2001.

    The tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was managing both helicopter and flight traffic simultaneously. The tower was understaffed at the time, but the Board found that there were still enough personnel to separate the control positions. The decision was up to the operations supervisor, who had been working a really long shift and investigators believe that the “lack of mandatory relief periods for supervisory air traffic control personnel” could have led to poor performance.

    “Keeping the helicopter control and local control positions continuously combined on the night of the accident increased the local control controller’s workload and negatively impacted his performance and situation awareness,” the report found

    The controllers notified the helicopter of the passenger plane approaching, but failed to warn the flight crew of the helicopter. The pilots could not see the helicopter coming, and the airplane lacked airborne collision avoidance systems that could have alerted the pilots to the risk posed by the helicopter.

    When warned, the helicopter crew said they had eyes on the incoming flight, but had likely confused the aircraft with another, because the controller had not specified direction or distance.

    The helicopter was also flying roughly 100 feet above its maximum altitude, and it’s possible that the crew saw a wrong altitude reading. According to the NTSB’s findings, the FAA and the Army failed to identify “incompatibility” between the error tolerances of barometric altimeters in the helicopters and the helicopter route, which meant that helicopters were “regularly” flying higher than they should and even potentially crossing into airplane paths.

    “It is possible that incorrect settings may be present on other aircraft used throughout the Department of War armed services,” the board concluded.

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    Ece Yildirim

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  • US Navy helicopters kill Iran-backed Houthi fighters attempting to board a cargo ship in Red Sea

    US Navy helicopters kill Iran-backed Houthi fighters attempting to board a cargo ship in Red Sea

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    • Navy helicopters fired on Iran-backed Houthi gunmen attempting to hijack a cargo ship.

    • The helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews.

    • The small boats originated from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, said US Central Command.

    The conflict in the Red Sea escalated on Sunday when US Navy helicopters fired on and destroyed the boats of Iranian-backed Houthi gunmen attempting to board a cargo ship.

    The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, attempted to board the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-registered, Danish-owned cargo ship, said US Central Command (Centcom).

    Responding to a distress call from the Maersk Hangzhou, US warship helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and Gravely engaged the Houthi vessels.

    After being shot at by gunmen in the boats, the US Navy helicopters returned fire, sinking three and killing all the crew, Centcom said.

    It added that the fourth boat “fled the area” and no damage had been recorded to US personnel or equipment.

    Earlier, the US Navy’s USS Gravely successfully intercepted two anti-ship ballistic missiles while responding to a Houthi attack on the Maersk Hangzhou, per Centcom.

    The container ship was also struck by a missile while transiting the Southern Red Sea, it said. The vessel was reported as seaworthy and there was no injury to crew.

    Maersk has paused sailings through the Red Sea for 48 hours in response to the attempted attack.

    The US Navy’s interception of the assault countered the 23rd illegal attack by Houthi rebels on international shipping since November 19.

    A vital shipping lane

    Houthi

    Yemen’s Houthi loyalists lift their weapons as they take part in an armed parade for more than 20,000 members who have finished a military course, staged to show their willingness to battle any potential attack by the recently created coalition by the U.S., on December 20, 2023 in Amran province, Yemen.Mohammed Hamoud

    For weeks now, the Iran-backed Yemen rebel group has been targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea with drones and ballistic missiles in protest of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.

    Leading shipping firms, including Maersk, have reroutes vessels from the vital shipping lane, impacting global shipping routes and international trade.

    The Houthi assaults on vital shipping lanes have prompted the US to launch Operation Prosperity Guardian — an international Naval coalition aimed at safeguarding shipping in the region.

    The Houthis have continued with their attacks despite the US’ response. US Navy Vice Adm. Brad Cooper stated that, since the operation’s launch, 1,200 commercial ships have passed through the Red Sea without incident until Saturday’s missile strike, per the BBC.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

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  • 2 dead, 2 injured from fire rescue helicopter crash in Pompano Beach, Florida | CNN

    2 dead, 2 injured from fire rescue helicopter crash in Pompano Beach, Florida | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Broward County, Florida, sheriff’s fire rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment complex Monday morning, leaving two people dead and two others injured.

    Authorities identified the dead as Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Captain Terryson Jackson, who was in the helicopter, and an unnamed adult woman who lived in the apartment complex.

    The crash occurred near an airfield just north of Fort Lauderdale as the helicopter was on its way to an emergency call, authorities said.

    “At approximately 8:46 a.m., emergency personnel responded to a call of an aircraft alert located southwest of the Pompano Beach Airpark. The helicopter involved in the crash is a BSO Fire Rescue helicopter. Pompano Beach Fire Rescue transported two people to an area hospital,” the Broward County Sheriff’s department said in a news release.

    A total of three Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue personnel were on board the helicopter “that crashed into a structure following an in-flight fire one-half mile from Pompano Beach Airpark,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

    Just before it crashed, the aircraft was smoking and on fire near the rear, video posted to CNN affiliate WPLG appeared to show.

    The two injured victims are being treated at the hospital and “do not have life-threatening injuries and are listed in fair condition,” officials said.

    Terryson Jackson, 50, had worked in fire rescue in Broward County for 19 years, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.

    “As a flight paramedic, he impacted the community daily, providing critical patients with the highest pre-hospital care,” reads the post. “He consistently showed an unmatched passion for the job. He always provided expert care, compassion and reassurance to those during their most significant time of need.”

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  • What judicial ethics rules say about Clarence Thomas’ lifestyle bankrolled by his friends | CNN Politics

    What judicial ethics rules say about Clarence Thomas’ lifestyle bankrolled by his friends | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    It’s undeniable that Justice Clarence Thomas’ friendships with billionaires willing to foot his bill on their vacations together have given the conservative jurist a lifestyle most Americans could only dream of.

    But determining whether Thomas violated ethics rules and laws by failing to disclose that hospitality is tricky.

    The law in question is the Ethics in Government Act, and how it should be applied to the extravagant travel that Thomas and other justices have been treated to has been a subject of debate.

    The debate centers on what counts as “personal hospitality” – i.e., accommodations and entertainment that judges are treated to personally by their friends – which does not have to be reported on annual financial disclosures under certain contexts.

    The Supreme Court’s critics note that, even if Thomas was not technically in violation of the rules, his pattern of accepting – and not reporting – lavish experiences such as skybox tickets to major sporting events and far-flung trips on mega-yachts shows that the high court cannot be trusted to police itself under the current standards. Some argue that more stringent ethical reforms – perhaps in the form of legislation – are needed.

    Further complicating the picture is that the regulations laying out when personal hospitality need not be reported have recently been tightened. Thomas’ defenders have pointed to those changes, announced earlier this year, to argue that the old regime did not require the justice to report the types of hospitality now under scrutiny. Thomas himself – in a rare statement released in April, when ProPublica published its first investigation into the extravagant travel perks he has received – noted that reworked ethical guidance and vowed to follow it going forward.

    But assessing whether the gifts and hospitality described in the latest ProPublica report – which puts the tally at 38 destination vacations, 26 private jet flights, eight helicopter trips and a dozen VIP tickets to sporting events – would require disclosure, either then or under the tightened rules, is a complicated question. It sometimes depends on details about how the high-end trips were financed that were not fully fleshed out by the report.

    “The question is: Who is absorbing the cost?” said Stephen Gillers, a New York University School of Law professor who has written extensively about legal ethics and rules.

    Thomas is not the only justice who has engaged in such jet-setting. When Justice Samuel Alito was the subject of a ProPublica report detailing a 2008 private flight he took to Alaska on a plane owned by a GOP megadonor, he argued in a preemptive essay published by Wall Street Journal’s opinion section that he was not required to disclose it under ethics rules in place at the time. Alito claimed that plane trip fit the definition of “facility” in the requirements’ exemptions for personal hospitality extended to judges “on property or facilities owned by (a) person”

    Ethics experts have pushed back on the idea that a private flight could be interpreted to fall under the term “facility.” The new guidance announced in March makes clear that going forward, private plane trips cannot be excluded from the reporting requirements because “substitutes for commercial transportation” are not part of the exemptions.

    ProPublica’s latest report, published Thursday, surfaces several helicopter trips that Thomas took apparently at the expense of his billionaire benefactors. Even under the new guidance, there could be some argument that certain helicopter trips may not require disclosure, according to Gillers, who gave the example of a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.

    Since such a ride would not be a replacement of a commercial flight, but instead a form of entertainment offered by a friend, disclosure could potentially be avoided. But another key question, under the new guidance, is whether the helicopter ride was being paid for personally by the friend of the judge.

    The new guidance states that accommodations offered to a judge that are not paid for out of the personal pocketbook of an individual – but through a third-party entity, which could include the friend’s company or another business – would require disclosure. If the person footing the cost is seeking a tax deduction for the expense of the accommodation or gift, that would also trigger a judge’s reporting requirement.

    Justice Roberts wrote ‘condescending’ letter to Senate when asked to testify about ethics

    That means if the helicopter rides described in the ProPublica report – which Thomas occasionally enjoyed in the mid-2000s because of his friendship with the late corporate titan Wayne Huizenga – were on a helicopter owned by Huizenga’s business, Thomas would have to disclose them under the new rules. Even if Huizenga owned the helicopter personally, if he put the cost of the rides toward a tax exemption, that would also mean Thomas’ helicopter jaunts would fall outside of the exemptions.

    Thomas’ friendships with oil baron Paul “Tony” Novelly and real estate mogul Harlan Crow have led to the billionaires hosting him on their mega-yachts. Those trips have included ventures with Novelly in the Bahamas and island-hopping with Crow in Indonesia. Since Thomas presumably was sleeping on the yachts, he can argue they’re covered by the disclosure exception for accommodations personally offered by friends.

    “Thomas could say that, just as a weekend at a country home at the invitation of a friend is personal hospitality, a week on my friend’s yacht is also personal hospitality. It’s just that one is on the land and one is on the water,” Gillers said.

    Another area of scrutiny in the new ProPublica report is tickets to major sporting events – often for skybox seats – that Thomas received from his wealthy friends. Government ethics experts quoted in the story raised the disclosure requirement for gifts valued at more than $415 as potentially problematic for Thomas.

    However, according to Gabe Roth, who heads the organization Fix the Court, the ethics questions over the tickets hinge more on the entertainment exemption for judges when they are receiving personal hospitality.

    “You could make the argument that sporting tickets count as entertainment,” said Roth, whose group advocates for ethics reform and more transparency in the judiciary.

    Thomas is not the only justice who has failed to report sporting event tickets on their disclosures. Justice Elena Kagan attended a University of Wisconsin football game – sitting in the Chancellor’s Box – in 2017 that went unreported on her disclosure for that year, according to a Fix the Court review.

    Still, ProPublica points to the example of 60 lower court judges who reported sporting event tickets on their annual forms between 2003 and 2019.

    It is a particularly complicated endeavor to decipher Thomas’ reporting obligations for the access he reportedly got, via his friendship with Huizenga, to an exclusive Florida golf course. The report describes a “standing invitation” Thomas had to the members-only course, the Floridian, but ProPublica said it was not clear whether Thomas was granted a full-fledged membership or whether he was just able to visit the course as a guest of Huizenga.

    However, there are signs pointing toward disclosure for judges who do receive gifted golf club memberships. In his filing for 2008, Chief Justice John Roberts reported honorary memberships to two golf courses – valued in the thousands of dollars – that he was gifted, while even noting in the disclosure forms that he didn’t use the memberships.

    “If that’s John Roberts’ interpretation of the federal disclosure law, I am going to side with him on this,” Roth said.

    The latest investigation into Thomas’ conduct also hit on an issue that has emerged around several of the justices: whether their activity with certain charities and other organizations violates ethical standards limiting judges’ participation in fundraising.

    ProPublica, piggybacking off recent reporting by The New York Times, dug into Thomas’ involvement with the Horatio Alger Association, which offers scholarships and mentorships to students, and which connected Thomas to some of the billionaire benefactors highlighted in the report.

    Thomas, according to The Times and ProPublica, facilitated events for the organization that were hosted at the Supreme Court, with the latest investigation reporting that access to one such event cost $1,500 or more in contributions per person.

    Under a set of ethics rules for the judiciary that are separate from the financial disclosure requirements, judges are barred from allowing the “prestige” of their office to be used for the purpose of fundraising.

    “You can attend an event of an organization, a non-profit that serves as a fundraiser,” Gillers said. “But the justice or judge cannot be identified as an attraction for people to come and donate money.”

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  • Remains of employees and pilot recovered after helicopter crash in Alaska, officials say | CNN

    Remains of employees and pilot recovered after helicopter crash in Alaska, officials say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The remains of four people aboard an Alaska Department of Natural Resources helicopter that crashed last week were recovered Sunday morning from the wreckage sight in a tundra lake, officials said.

    The remains of employees Ronald Daanen, 51, Justin Germann, 27 and Tori Moore, 26, along with pilot Bernard “Tony” Higdon, 48, were recovered by a search and rescue dive team about 50 miles outside of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the state’s department of public safety said in a news release.

    The employees, who worked for the Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey, were using a state-chartered helicopter on Thursday while conducting fieldwork in the vicinity of Utqiaġvik, but had not checked in that night, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources said in a Facebook post Friday.

    The department initiated a search and rescue effort Friday and crews later found debris in a lake that matched the missing helicopter, officials said.

    “The Department is beginning the process of grieving for our colleagues, supporting our team through this challenging time, and working with partner agencies to learn everything we can about this incident,” the Alaska Department of Natural Resources said in a Facebook post.

    The bodies of those killed are being sent to the state’s medical examiner for an autopsy, according to a release from authorities. The National Transportation Safety Board told CNN Monday that its investigators will examine and document the wreckage once it has been recovered.

    Utqiaġvik is the northernmost city in the United States, according to the city’s website.

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  • Six killed in Nepal helicopter crash near Mount Everest | CNN

    Six killed in Nepal helicopter crash near Mount Everest | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Six people have died in a helicopter crash in Nepal, a spokesperson for Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport said Tuesday.

    The Manang Air helicopter was carrying five Mexican passengers and a Nepali pilot, Teknath Sitoula told CNN.

    Reuters reported that Manang Air caters to tourists wanting a view of Nepal’s peaks, including Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain.

    It set off from Solukhumbu district, where Everest is situated, at 10:05 a.m. local time (12:20 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, heading for the capital, Kathmandu, according to a statement issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

    The helicopter lost contact less than 10 minutes later, at 10:13 a.m., and was later found crashed in Solukhumbu’s rural municipality of Likhupike, according to the authority.

    It added that locals and police who reached the crash site found the bodies of all on board.

    “All six bodies have been located. We are now starting the process to take them to Kathmandu. It will take some time because it means traveling by road from the crash site and then flying to Kathmandu,” Sitoula told CNN.

    He added that the cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

    Nepal’s inclement weather, low visibility and mountainous topography all contribute to its reputation as notoriously dangerous for aviation.

    In January, at least 68 people were killed when an aircraft went down near the city of Pokhara in central Nepal. This was the Himalayan nation’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years.

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  • US Army orders aviation safety stand down following deadly helicopter crashes | CNN Politics

    US Army orders aviation safety stand down following deadly helicopter crashes | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The chief of staff of the US Army has grounded all Army aviators not involved in critical missions following two recent helicopter crashes that left 12 soldiers dead.

    The order from Army Chief of Staff James McConville grounds the aviators “until they complete the required training,” according to the Army.

    “The safety of our aviators is our top priority, and this stand down is an important step to make certain we are doing everything possible to prevent accidents and protect our personnel,” McConville said in a statement.

    Army pilots, at McConville’s direction, “will focus on safety and training protocols to ensure our pilots and crews have the knowledge, training and awareness to safely complete their assigned mission.”

    The safety stand down comes after Thursday’s mid-air collision of two AH-64 Apache helicopters near Fort Wainwright, Alaska, that killed three soldiers and wounded another. Two of the soldiers died at the scene and the third died while being transported to a hospital, according to a release from the US Army’s 11th Airborne Division.

    The crash occurred about 100 miles south of Fort Wainwright, where the helicopters are based as part of the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment.

    “This is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division,” Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, said in the release. “Our hearts and prayers go out to their families, friends and loved ones, and we are making the full resources of the Army available to support them.”

    That deadly collision came just weeks after nine soldiers were killed when two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a nighttime training mission near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the Army said.

    The medical evacuation helicopters were conducting a routine training mission when they crashed at approximately 10:00 pm local time in an open field across from a residential area. All nine of the service members aboard the two aircraft were killed.

    The incidents are under investigation, according to the Army, but “there is no indication of any pattern” between the two.

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  • 3 soldiers dead, 1 injured after Army Apache helicopters collide midair while returning from a training flight in Alaska | CNN

    3 soldiers dead, 1 injured after Army Apache helicopters collide midair while returning from a training flight in Alaska | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Three soldiers were killed and another was injured when two AH-64 Apache helicopters collided Thursday as they were flying back from a military training flight near Healy, Alaska, US Army officials said.

    Two of the soldiers died at the scene and the third died while being transported to a hospital, according to a release from the US Army’s 11th Airborne Division.

    The names of the deceased are being withheld until 24 hours after their families have been notified, the release said.

    The crash occurred about 100 miles south of Fort Wainwright, where the helicopters are based as part of the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment.

    “This is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division,” Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, said in the release. “Our hearts and prayers go out to their families, friends and loved ones, and we are making the full resources of the Army available to support them.”

    US Army officials said Friday that the surviving soldier is in stable condition at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

    The deadly collision comes less than a month after nine soldiers were killed when two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a nighttime training mission near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the Army said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

    “The Fort Wainwright community is one of the tightest military communities I’ve seen in my 32 years of service. I have no doubt they will pull together during this exceptional time of need and provide comfort to our families of our fallen,” Eifler added.

    Fort Wainwright’s Emergency Assistance Center is available to “provide support for families, friends and fellow soldiers of those involved in the crash,” the release said.

    The crash will be investigated by an Army Combat Readiness Center team, the release said.

    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy took to Twitter on Friday to send “thoughts and prayers” to the soldiers involved in the incident.

    “My heart breaks for the family of the 3 soldiers who were killed. We pray for the injured soldier to be treated and return home safely,” he wrote.

    Correction: A previous version of this story misstated where the crash happened. It was near Healy, Alaska.

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  • Japanese military helicopter crashes in sea with 10 on board | CNN

    Japanese military helicopter crashes in sea with 10 on board | CNN

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    Tokyo
    CNN
     — 

    Rescuers are scanning waters off southern Japan for 10 people on board a Japanese military helicopter that apparently crashed into the sea on Thursday, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.

    “I will continue to do my best to collect information on the damage and search for human lives,” said Hamada, who looked visibly overcome with emotion when he spoke to reporters Friday.

    Gen. Yasunori Morishita, chief of staff of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), said searchers had found what appeared to be parts of the the UH-60JA helicopter in the sea and are continuing to scan the ocean for survivors.

    If no survivors are found, the crash would be Japan’s deadliest military aviation accident since 1995, according to a database maintained by the Aviation Safety Network.

    The missing troops include two pilots, two mechanics and six passengers, among them Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, a senior GSDF commander, Morishita said.

    Sakamoto, commander of the 8th Division, had been newly appointed to his role on March 30, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported Friday.

    The helicopter – which was surveying the local area – went missing Thursday at 3:56 p.m. local time after disappearing from radar screens off the coast of Miyako Island in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, according to the Defense Ministry.

    Miyako Island – adjacent to the East China Sea – is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Taiwan and is home to a JGSDF missile unit.

    A spokesperson from the Japan Coast Guard told CNN that around 6:50 p.m. local time on Thursday, a patrol boat retrieved a lifeboat with the words “Ground Self-Defense Force” written on it from the sea.

    The spokesperson added that early Friday morning, a window frame, a door with “Ground Self-Defense Force” written on it and a rotor blade were recovered in waters north of Irabu Island, which is connected to Miyako Island by a bridge. 

    According to manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the UH-60JA is a multipurpose helicopter based on the US military’s Black Hawk helicopters.

    The last time at least 10 people were lost in a Japanese military aviation accident was on February 21, 1995, when a Maritime Self-Defense Force flying boat crashed on Okinawa, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

    On April 26, 1983, 11 people were killed when a flying boat crashed during practice for an air show in Iwakuni, and 14 died a week earlier when two Air Self-Defense Force transports flying in formation crashed into an island in Ise Bay, according to the database.

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  • US conducts helicopter raid in Syria capturing ISIS official | CNN Politics

    US conducts helicopter raid in Syria capturing ISIS official | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The US military and Syrian Democratic Forces conducted a helicopter raid in eastern Syria early Saturday, capturing an ISIS official, according to a statement from US Central Command.

    Batar, “an ISIS Syria Province Official involved in planning attacks on SDF-guarded detention centers and manufacturing improvised explosive devices,” was captured in the raid, CENTCOM said in the statement.

    The US did not provide any additional information or evidence regarding its claims about Batar.

    No civilians, SDF or US forces were killed or injured in the raid, according to CENTCOM.

    The development comes on the heels of an earlier helicopter raid in Syria on Thursday night that the US military said killed Hamza al-Homsi, a senior ISIS leader, as well as wounded four US troops and a working dog.

    Officials told CNN that US forces were “close to” al-Homsi when an explosion occurred, killing al-Homsi and wounding the US service members. It is unclear at this point if the explosion was the result of a suicide vest, a booby trap or something else, two officials said.

    Separately, US Central Command said in a statement Saturday evening that two rockets had landed near a coalition base in northeast Syria.

    No US or coalition troops were injured and no damage to equipment or infrastructure occurred during the rocket attack that targeted Green Village, a coalition base in northeast Syria.

    US forces are investigating the incident.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • Helicopter crash near Kyiv kills 18, including Ukrainian interior minister | CNN

    Helicopter crash near Kyiv kills 18, including Ukrainian interior minister | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A helicopter crash near a kindergarten in the Kyiv region has killed at least 18 people, including Ukraine’s entire interior ministry leadership team, according to officials.

    At least 29 others were injured in the incident on Wednesday in the city of Brovary, on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, according to Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration.

    Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, First Deputy Minister Yevheniy Yenin and State Secretary Yuriy Lubkovychis died in the crash, Anton Geraschenko, a ministry adviser, confirmed on social media.

    The nine people onboard the aircraft died, while the other casualties were locals “bringing their children to the kindergarten,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration.

    Multiple people, including Ukraine's entire interior ministry leadership team, died in the incident on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.

    Kuleba, speaking alongside Tymoshenko at the scene to reporters, added “there is currently no information on the number of missing children. Identification is ongoing. Parents are coming, lists are being compiled.”

    A CNN team on the ground in the Kyiv region noted gray skies and very low visibility.

    The helicopter that has crashed was a Eurocopter EC225 “Super Puma,” a CNN producer confirmed after seeing remnants of flight manuals among the debris.

    An aerial view of the crash which killed everyone onboard the helicopter and more on the ground.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the crash

    It landed near a kindergarten and a residential building, Kuleba said earlier.

    “At the time of the tragedy, there were children and the staff in the kindergarten. At the moment, everyone was evacuated,” he wrote on Telegram.

    Paramedics, the police and firefighters are responding at the scene, Kuleba added.

    In a written statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the crash “a terrible tragedy,” adding that he has ordered the Ukrainian Security Services to “to find out all the circumstances.”

    Zelensky ended his statement by saying the officials were “true patriots of Ukraine. May they rest in peace! May all those whose lives were taken this black morning rest in peace!”

    Charles Michel, president of the European Council, also paid tribute to Monastyrsky as “a great friend of the EU.” Michel tweeted that the European Union joins Ukraine “in grief following the tragic helicopter accident in Brovary.”

    In April 2022, Monastyrsky took CNN’s Fred Pleitgen to Chernobyl to visit abandoned Russian military positions where radioactive contamination had been revealed.

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