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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - United States President Donald Trump blamed the US Army's Black Hawk helicopter for the mid-air collision with an American Airlines plane that occurred on Wednesday night, January 29, 2025. Trump said that based on the results of the investigation, the Black Hawk flew too high, exceeding the safe limit of 200 feet or 61 meters near the airport.
"The Black Hawk helicopter flew too high, well above the 200-foot limit. That's not too complicated to understand, is it?" Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday, December 31, 2025, quoted from Reuters.
Most recently, initial radar data led investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board to believe that the Black Hawk helicopter flew above 200 feet. The information was based on data taken from the black box - a flight data recorder - of American Airlines. The findings strengthen Trump's previous accusations.
The fatal accident occurred when the plane was about to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, Washington DC. Investigators on Saturday night, February 1, 2025 revealed that the collision with the helicopter occurred at an altitude of about 325 feet or about 99 meters above the ground. At the time of the incident, it was reported that around 60 passengers, two pilots, and two crew members were on board. While there were three soldiers in the helicopter.
Black Hawk Helicopter Profile
Reported from the International Defense & Aerospace Group, the Black Hawk helicopter or the full name Black Hawk UH-60 is the mainstay air vehicle of the army, air force, and emergency rescue services worldwide. This versatile one is usually used in evacuations on the battlefield, search and rescue operations, troop and cargo movements, and special operations.
Business Insider wrote that the Black Hawk was produced by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp, namely Sikorsky Aircraft. There are several models such as the UH-60L and UH-60A. For the UH-60L model, the Black Hawk helicopter has a maximum weight of 11 tons, while the UH-60A is for transporting a maximum weight of around 10 tons.
Adapted from Military.com, in terms of specifications, the Black Hawk is a twin-engine medium-lift utility helicopter. This air vehicle is equipped with a single 4-bladed rotor and a single 4-bladed tail rotor. Its titanium-core rotor blades are resistant to anti-aircraft artillery fire up to 23 mm and are equipped with pressure sensors capable of detecting damage.
The basic crew for the UH-60A model is three, namely the pilot, co-pilot, and crew chief. For passengers, this model can carry 11 war soldiers with heavy equipment, or 14 in maximum capacity situations. However, the maximum troop carrying capacity can be forced up to 20 personnel with light equipment.
This helicopter is equipped with a rearward sliding door that can be locked on each side of the cargo compartment. The external cargo hook is rated to withstand 8,000 pounds or 3,630 kilograms. This iron bird is also equipped with ESSS (External Stores Support System) which consists of two external wing-like assemblies mounted on the aircraft frame above the cargo compartment door.
Each ESSS wing is equipped with 2 removable pylons. The wings are each rated at 5,000 pounds, and can accommodate one 230-gallon fuel tank and one 450-gallon fuel tank. This is an advantage for the Black Hawk because it can fly long distances without refueling as far as 1,200 nautical miles.
"In addition, the ESSS can also accommodate up to 16 Hellfire missiles, giving the Black Hawk the ability to arm itself in the middle of a mission," wrote the Military.com page.
Although not equipped with a special weapons system, the Black Hawk is equipped with two pintle mounts, one each located on either side of the airframe at the rear of the flight deck. The pintle is equipped with a variety of weapons, including an M-60 GP 7.62 mm machine gun, an M-240 7.62 mm machine gun, a GAU-19/A .50 caliber machine gun, and a General Electric M134 7.62 mm light machine gun 6.
In terms of power, the Black Hawk is equipped with two General Electric T700-GE-701 turboshaft engines, each rated at 1,560 horsepower. Despite having two engines, the helicopter is capable of flying on one engine. For internal fuel capacity, it is stored in two impact-resistant fuel tanks and totals 360 gallons.
In addition, the Black Hawk helicopter is also equipped with VHF-FM, UHF-FM, and VHF-AM/FM radios, as well as an encrypted IFF recognition system. For self-defense, the Black Hawk is equipped with an AN/APR-39(v)1 radar warning receiver, as well as an AN/ALQ-144 infrared countermeasures system and chaff/flare dispenser.
Melynda Dwi Puspita contributed to the writing of this article.
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