U.S. military helicopter crashes like the one that took down a commercial American Airlines flight over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night are very rare, but there has been an uptick in these incidents in recent years, according to military statistics and an aviation expert.
A total of 64 people, including passengers and flight crew members, were aboard AA Flight 5342 from Wichita to Reagan National Airport (DCA). Three soldiers were conducting a training operation on the Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that came from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
Timothy Loranger, an aviation attorney at Wisner Baum and a Marine Corps veteran, expressed concern about the increasing number of incidents but highlighted the overall safety record of flights. He noted that despite these rare occurrences, the vast majority of flights operate without any issues.
The recent collision has raised questions about the circumstances leading to such a tragic accident in a highly regulated airspace. The last major fatal commercial crash dates back to 2009 when a Continental Airlines flight crashed in Buffalo, New York, claiming 49 lives.
Loranger emphasized the importance of investigating various factors such as training protocols, military budget allocation for pilot training, and potential aircraft-related issues. He stressed the need to determine whether any problems lie in aircraft design, manufacturing, or maintenance.
Although military helicopter crashes are infrequent, recent Army data suggests a slight increase in such incidents over the past year.
