Surprising details of the American Airlines fatal plane crash after colliding with the US Army helicopter in Washington DC have emerged.
According to Sky News, US officials revealed that the US Army Black Hawk helicopter was training for a hypothetical doomsday scenario when it collided with the passenger jet over the Potomac River.
The US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, without getting “into anything that is classified,” told Fox News that the helicopter was performing a “continuity of government” drill designed to help pilots “rehearse in ways that would reflect a real-world scenario.”
The mission known as “continuity of government" and "continuity of operations" is designed to preserve the ability of the government to operate in a disaster.
Moreover, questions have been raised about the US Army flying the helicopter near a busy airport.
Jonathan Koziol, the chief of staff of the army's aviation directorate, defended the mission near the airport, saying, “Some of their mission is to support the Department of Defence if something really bad happens in this area, and we need to move our senior leaders.”
“They do need to be able to understand the environment, the air traffic, and the routes to ensure the safe travel of our senior leaders throughout our government,” he continued.
For the unversed, the tragic incident claimed 67 lives, 64 on the passenger plane and 3 soldiers inside the military aircraft.
