What is a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which collided with an American Airlines jet

A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines plane with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington on Wednesday. While there was no immediate news about the number of casualties or what led to the collision, a multi-agency search and rescue operation is underway in the Potomac River after the aircraft crash.

According to media reports, the US Army Black Hawk had three crew members.

“We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia,” the US Army said in a statement.

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is a twin-engined medium lift utility transport and air assault aircraft. Born out of the S-70 project designed to the USArmy's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System specification, the four-blade design aircraft is powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines.

According to Lockheed Martin which manufactures the aircraft, the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter can transport up to "12 fully equipped, seated troops in combat."

"The Black Hawk Helicopter has proven itself in the most austere of environments providing an operational readiness rate of over 92 per cent in combat conditions," a company statement reads.

The Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) media chief Heather Chairez confirmed that the Army aircraft involved was a UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir.

The primary functions of 12th Aviation Battalion of the US Army include providing helicopter transport for civilian and senior military leaders, and offering operational airlift for tactical units. The Army confirmed that the aircraft was not carrying any VIPs at the time of the accident.