helicopter

Oct. 26 (UPI) — Two U.S. Navy aircraft went down in the South China Sea in two incidents separated by half an hour on Sunday, according to U.S. Pacific Fleet, which said all service members were rescued.

In a statement, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter crashed while conducting routine operations at about 2:45 p.m. local time.

It had deployed from aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and was assigned to “Battle Cats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73.

All three crew members were rescued.

The second incident involved a F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22.

According to the Navy, it went down at 3:15 p.m. while also conducting routine operations.

“Both crew members successfully ejected and were also safely recovered by search-and-rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11,” it said.

“All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition.”

The incidents are under investigation.

Commissioned in 1975, the USS Nimitz is on its final deployment, which began late March, USNI News reported. It had operated in the Middle East this summer as part of U.S. military plans to thwart Houthi attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea and had entered the South China Sea on Oct. 17.

THIS is the terrifying moment a helicopter crashes onto a freeway just feet away from shocked drivers in California.

Three people on board are in a critical condition after the Airbus lost control before plunging towards the busy road and smashing into the ground.

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Footage showed the chopper flying low above Highway 50 near Howe Avenue in Sacramento.

Within seconds it started plummeting towards the ground with huge plumes of smoke seen billowing across the highway as it smashed.

Pictures from after the crash shows the medical helicopter upside down in the middle of the road.

Smashed glass and debris can be seen strewn across the highway as firefighters and cops surround the wreckage.

Motorist Davyd Bychkoviak was driving past just after 7pm local time (3am UK time) as the helicopter spiralled through the air.

Mr Bychkoviak said: “I’m still shaking. It was a brush with death.

“The helicopter crashed inches away from me. The dust kicked up into my face, and I could feel the wind of the propellers in the car.

“If it had crashed on the road there would have been multiple fatalities.”

The Sacramento Fire Department and Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter went down on the eastbound lanes of Highway 50 near Howe Avenue.

They added that it was a helicopter that provides air medical services.

REACH Air Medical Services later confirmed to ABC7 news that three of its crew were hurt in the crash.

Captain Justin Sylvia, from the Sacramento Fire Department, confirmed three people were “transported in critical condition” to local hospitals.

These included two females and a male made up of a pilot, nurse and paramedic.

No patient was on board at the time of the disaster, Captain Sylvia added.

Speaking at a press conference today he said: “There was one victim that was trapped underneath the helicopter… [with] the help of just civilians that were standing around, they were able to lift part of that helicopter out and get that victim out.

“There’s a pretty large debris field around that at this point.

“The lucky portion for us, I’d say, is the fact that the helicopter did not catch on fire.”

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Sept. 22 (UPI) — The U.S. Defense Department on Monday identified four soldiers who died last week in a helicopter crash during routine training.

The four U.S. Army service members were Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Cully, 35; Sgt. Jadalyn Good, 23; Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Kraus, 39; and Sgt. Donavon Scott, 25. Good and Scott were from Washington, while Cully was from Missouri and Kraus was of Florida.

Col. Stephen Smith said the four service members were from the 4th Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and often operates at night, earning members the “Night Stalkers” nickname.

“These exceptional warriors … embodied the unwavering dedication, selflessness and excellence that define the very spirit of the Army and Army Special Operations,” he said.

“Their service to our nation will forever be etched in our hearts and in the legacy of the Night Stalkers. These heroes were not only elite professionals but also cherished teammates, friends and family members whose absence leaves an immeasurable void.”

The four special operations soldiers were aboard an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed Wednesday in Washington. The aircraft went down in a rural location about 40 miles west of Joint Base Lewis-McChord — about 50 miles south of Seattle — and caused a 1-acre fire that hampered rescue efforts.

Sept. 19 (UPI) — Four U.S. Army special operations soldiers who were aboard an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed likely are dead, Army officials announced on Friday.

The helicopter crashed in Washington state at about 9 p.m. PDT Wednesday and caused a 1-acre fire that hampered efforts to reach the four Army soldiers that it carried, including its pilot.

The soldiers were assigned to the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment that is headquartered at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and often operates at night, earning its soldiers the “Night Stalkers” designation.

“Our hearts are with the families, friends and teammates of these Night Stalkers,” said Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, as reported by CBS News.

“They were elite warriors who embodied the highest values of the Army and the Army Special Operations,” Braga added. “Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

The Army has not released the four soldiers’ names, according to The Seattle Times.

The helicopter crashed in a rural location about 40 miles west of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which is about 50 miles south of Seattle.

The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment has two battalions based at Fort Campbell and one each at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The unit lost five soldiers during a training exercise accident in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in November 2023.

A MILITARY helicopter carrying four soldiers has crashed near an army base, according to a defence spokesperson.

The Black Hawk came down at around 9pm near the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

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Four special operations soldiers are understood to have been on board when it crashed.

Reports claim the chopper came down around 35 miles west of the base.

It is not yet known if there were any casualties.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Department were called out to reports of an explosion in the area.

A spokesperson said: “Deputies have located what is believed to be the scene.

“We have been advised that the military lost contact with a helicopter in the area, and we are working closely with JBLM to deploy any resources needed to assist.

“Deputies located the crash site but have been unable to continue rescue efforts as the scene is on fire and is starting to overheat their footwear.”

Army Special Operations Command has described the horror crash as a “mishap”.

The troops on board are believed to be in the hardened “Night Stalkers” special operations regiment.

“Four service members assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) were on board an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter involved in an aviation mishap in a rural area near Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” a spokesperson said.

“This remains an active, ongoing situation.”

They added that the terrain where the Black Hawk crashed is “hard to reach”.

A fire sparked by the crash has reportedly smothered up to one acre of land.

Back in March, another helicopter crashed at the same base during a training exercise.

Two army pilots were injured when the chopper came down.

Colonel Bryen Freigo said at the time: “The two crew members were medically evacuated to Madigan Army Medical Center for evaluation and treatment and remain at the hospital in stable condition.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with these families and soldiers during their recovery.”

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Sept. 18 (UPI) — The status is unknown for four special operations soldiers aboard a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed Wednesday evening in Washington state.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to respond to the crash in the Summit Lake, Wash., area and had located the scene of the crash.

The local sheriff told USA Today that “the scene is on fire,” with about an acre burned following the crash that occurred at about 9 p.m. PDT.

The four soldiers are assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, according to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

The crew was on a “routine training flight” when air traffic controllers lost contact with them, which suggested something had gone wrong, a U.S. Army spokesperson told ABC News.

The accident’s cause is under investigation.

Thurston County Sheriff Derek Saunders said the crash site is about 15 miles from Joint Base Lewis McChord.

“Deputies have located the crash site but have been unable to continue rescue efforts as the scene is on fire and is starting to overheat their footwear,” Saunders said. “Special operation rescue units are responding.”

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is located in the Puget Sound region and is home to I Corps and the 62 Airlift Wing. According to the base’s website, there are 40,000 active-duty troops at the base, plus their families and thousands of contractors.

The Military Times reported that the weather was good at Olympia Regional Airport on Wednesday night, with clear skies and a visibility of 10 miles.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for developments.

An Indian military helicopter rescued several people stranded by raging flood waters from the roof of a collapsing building in Punjab state. At least 36 people have been killed over the past 24 hours as heavy rains swept the Himalayas.

Just three days after imagery surfaced of China’s first known crewed tiltrotor aircraft to take to the air, we have gotten our first sight of a previously unknown compound coaxial helicopter. The aircraft, the designation of which remains unknown, is also now undergoing test flights and is a direct clone of the U.S.-made Sikorsky S-97 Raider. The development confirms that China, too, is looking at harnessing the benefits of this kind of aircraft, which offers much higher speeds than a conventional helicopter, as well as increased maneuverability.

The images showing the new compound coaxial helicopter emerged today, apparently first being posted to China’s Weibo microblogging site. They show the rotorcraft in flight and immediately betray its close connection to the S-97. Most fundamentally, the Chinese design adopts the same propulsion configuration, with four-blade coaxial main rotors — which looks like a rigid design — and a pusher propeller. The Chinese aircraft appears to be of almost identical size and also has the same ‘tadpole’-like fuselage shape and landing gear configuration. Like the S-97, the Chinese helicopter also has a relatively large, plank-like horizontal tail with endplate tailfins. However, the tailfin design is different, with the larger part of the fin projecting above the tailplane, rather than below it.

At this point, it’s worth recalling that this is far from the first Chinese design to share a significant superficial resemblance to a Western aircraft. In the rotary field, the Harbin Z-20 helicopter is widely regarded as a Chinese clone of the H-60/S-70 Black Hawk/Seahawk, while the Chinese FH-97 drone looks like a carbon copy of the XQ-58A Valkyrie. These are just two examples, and while accusations of simply aping existing Western designs are an oversimplification, China has been accused on multiple occasions of hacking detailed design information from U.S. aerospace defense contractors.

Regardless of what kinds of Western technologies may have been exploited for its new compound coaxial helicopter, it’s interesting that China is now making a foray into this field and that it’s following the established S-97 design so closely.

Sikorsky’s S-97 prototype, which is a descendant of the same company’s X-2 and X-49 demonstrators, was developed as an 80-percent surrogate for the larger Raider X and weighed around 14,000 pounds. In tests, the helicopter has achieved speeds in excess of 200 knots, well beyond the top speeds of conventional rotorcraft. While the Raider X has a more pointed nose and a reversed landing gear arrangement, the aircraft were otherwise essentially very similar in form.

The Raider X was Sikorsky’s pitch for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program, in which it went up against Bell’s 360 Invictus, a conventional single-main-rotor helicopter with a canted tail rotor. FARA was conceived as filling the armed scout role vacated by the retirement of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. That mission was then performed by RQ-7 Shadow and MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones teamed with AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. While it was expected that FARA could replace a significant number of AH-64s currently in the Army’s inventory, the program was axed in early 2024, as you can read about here.

Central to the compound coaxial configuration of the S-97/Raider X (and now the analogous Chinese rotorcraft) is the pusher prop in the tail and the rigid, contrarotating rotors that eliminate the need for a tail rotor. The pusher prop allows for bursts of speed and rapid deceleration, increased maneuverability, and a higher sustained cruise speed. Range will also be increased compared to a standard helicopter, although not to such an extent as a tiltrotor. Unlike a conventional helicopter, a compound coaxial like this can fly forward with its nose up or backward with its nose pointed at the ground, while the Raider has routinely demonstrated an ability to ‘pirouette’ nose-down around a single point.

These compound coaxial helicopters can also fly at top speed while maintaining a level attitude, compared to a regular helicopter that has to point its nose down to accelerate forward. In forward flight, the pusher prop can be activated, and the spinning rotors are slowed to act more like wings than rotors, reducing drag and boosting speed and efficiency. Essentially, unlike a standard helicopter where the blades create lift during only part of their rotation, the rotor blades generate lift on both sides of the aircraft as they spin.

Speed is very far from a promise of immunity to battlefield threats, but it is certainly a valuable enhancement. It translates to reduced exposure to threats, including traditional ground fire, with less reaction time for the enemy to make a successful engagement. Other advantages of speed include reduced transit times to combat areas and the possibility of escaping certain threats with a high-speed dash.

FARA was a flop, while Sikorsky’s Defiant X — on which Sikorsky is teamed with Boeing — was a contender for the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program that will eventually replace at least portions of the UH-60 Black Hawk fleet. The Defiant X shared the same basic configuration as the S-97/Raider X, but was scaled up to the 30,000-pound class. In the event, it lost out to the Bell’s V-280 Valor advanced tiltrotor for FLRAA.

This means that Sikorsky’s compound coaxial helicopters currently don’t have a foothold in the small and medium categories within the U.S. Army’s broader Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative, which included FARA and FLRAA.

That’s not to say the concept is dead, however, and China clearly thinks its capabilities are worth exploring.

It’s also notable that the appearance of China’s new compound coaxial helicopter comes so soon after it was confirmed that its first known crewed tiltrotor aircraft was also being flight-tested.

This mirrors the competing design philosophies for FLRAA in the United States, and it’s certainly conceivable that a decision might be made between the compound coaxial and tiltrotor designs to inform what one or more next-generation rotorcraft for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might look like. At the same time, it’s also possible that China envisages a discrete role for the two different rotorcraft configurations. With the likelihood that these are demonstrators, there’s also potential for one or both of them to be scaled up, in much the same way that Sikorsky leveraged the S-97 design for both the Raider X and the larger Defiant X.

Equally fascinating is to consider how the PLA might envisage the future of rotorcraft on the battlefield more generally.

Amid concerns around survivability, the relevance of rotorcraft is now a major point of discussion, fueled by emerging lessons from both sides of the war in Ukraine. In this theater, conventional rotorcraft have suffered greatly, especially at the hands of forces armed with man-portable air defense weapons (MANPADS), while lower-end drones are also a fast-emerging threat, in Ukraine and elsewhere.

A Russian Mi-24/35 series helicopter is shot down by a Ukrainian missile, likely from a MANPADS:

Looking at the Indo-Pacific theater specifically, TWZ has, in the past, weighed up the arguments for canceling FARA as the Pentagon increasingly reconfigures for the possibility of a high-end fight with China in this region.

As TWZ’s Tyler Rogoway wrote at the time, in regard to FARA:

“Procuring hundreds of highly complex helicopters with relatively short-range capabilities — even those that are uniquely optimized for more range and speed than their predecessors — at great cost makes no sense when it comes to a fight in the Pacific. The opportunity cost of the dollars that would be spent on FARA instead of more relevant priorities and emerging technologies is just far too large for what the Army would be getting in return.”

“In a Pacific fight, for the vast majority of use cases, FARA, even with its enhanced range, will not be able to get from anything resembling a feasibly secure basing location to where they can have a major impact and survive to do so repeatedly. The most likely outcome is that these aircraft would have little to do during such a conflict, not because they are not highly capable, but because they simply can’t get to the areas where the fight is occurring, and the odds of returning home alive would be questionable even if they could.”

For the PLA, the situation is a little different, in that it would be better able to preposition its rotary assets ahead of a conflict and, while the distances to cover are still huge, support assets, spares, and other parts of the logistics trail are that much closer to where the fighting would be taking place.

Even in peacetime, China has a significant requirement to deliver cargoes to remote locations, including island outposts in the South China Sea. China also has access to a growing fleet of amphibious assault ships that would be ideal platforms for hosting advanced rotorcraft.

China is keenly aware of the need to maintain wartime operations without access to conventional airstrips, and helicopters would play a fundamental part in this.

On the other hand, even with the additional speed and agility that a compound coaxial offers, helicopters of any kind remain vulnerable when operating on a modern battlefield, with its layered air defenses. When it comes to the attack and reconnaissance roles, survivability increasingly depends on the respective ranges between the helicopter and its target. With that in mind, the kinds of weapons and sensors that production versions of China’s next-generation rotorcraft might field are just as important as the airframes themselves.

There’s also the question of how China sees the future balance between crewed rotorcraft and different kinds of uncrewed aircraft on the battlefield. Already, it is looking at the potential of tiltrotor designs that can be either crewed or uncrewed. China’s huge pivot toward uncrewed air systems will likely also see these play a hugely important role alongside crewed helicopters in a mutually beneficial force mix.

At this point, there are more questions than answers about China’s new compound coaxial helicopter, with a lack of clarity about its intended role as well as its design authority. On the other hand, it’s notable in itself that China is now exploring rotary technologies that should allow speeds of close to double that of conventional helicopters.

Even though Sikorsky says it still has hopes for its X-2 technology, it would be highly ironic if its potential ends up being exploited by America’s top pacing threat, China.

Contact the author: [email protected]

THIS is the moment a police helicopter pursues a man on an allegedly stolen motorbike while flying just feet above the ground.

Footage shows the chopper circling above the rider as he drives at speed around a field near St Helens, Merseyside.

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The pilot then lowers the helicopter just metres above the ground, in a desperate attempt to keep up with the fleeing motorcyclist.

At one point the dark blue and yellow coloured helicopter is seen to be flying almost parallel alongside the bike.

Moments later, both helicopter and motorbike disappear from the view of the camera behind a small patch of trees.

The chopper flies so low past the outcropping of trees it becomes obscured by the foliage.

The shocking video comes to an end but not before it cuts to a shot of a police officer in the field with the chopper heard circling overhead.

Another cut shows the speeding motorcyclist flying past the camera one last time.

Blitzing through the field at high speeds the rider passes just meters away from the cameraman in a final bid to lose the pursuing helicopter.

The helicopter appears to have stayed on the rider’s tail the whole time however and is seen flying overhead in a final cut.

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) said the high octane chase happened on August 13.

The incident is being reviewed internally in consultation with the Civil Aviation Authority.

Merseyside Police said the bike was driving in an “extremely dangerous” manner.

The rider is alleged to have been speeding, mounting pavements and nearly hitting a pedestrian as they revved the off-road bike around the area.

The rider is said to have been joined by a second man with the pair fleeing cops together along the A580 and through fields near a dam.

Officers later detained the second man on the ground when he dismounted his bike.

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The yob seen in the footage was reportedly arrested when he ran out fuel, his bike has been seized.

Chief Superintendent Fiona Gaffney, Chief Operating Officer at NPAS, said: “We’re aware of the video currently circulating on social media and the level of public interest it has generated.

“The circumstances are being thoroughly reviewed internally and in consultation with the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure all relevant standards and procedures have been followed.”

It comes amid talks that police choppers could soon be replaced by police drones.

One unmanned helicopter being trialled by the NPAS is capable of flying at speeds of 115mph and is able to stay airborne for up to six hours.

The NPAS said that the unmanned helicopter, a Schiebel Camcopter S-100, is larger than existing drones used by police forces and has a greater range.

Footage from a forest in Ghana’s Ashanti region showed smouldering wreckage from a helicopter crash that killed the country’s defence and environment ministers. Three other officials and three air force crew members were also killed.

A helicopter crash has killed 8 people including the nation’s defence and environment ministers, according to Ghana’s government.

Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among the victims of the crash in the southern Ashanti region of the country, said Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff to President John Mahama, on Wednesday.

“The president and the government extend their condolences and solidarity to the families of our comrades and soldiers who fell in their service to the nation,” said Debrah.

Also among the victims were Alhaji Muniru Muhammad, Deputy National Security Coordinator and former Minister of Agriculture, and Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of President Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) party.

The Ghanaian Air Force had reported earlier Wednesday that a military helicopter had disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Accra at around 09:00 (local time and GMT), bound for Obuasi, north-west of the capital.

Debrah announced that flags would be flown at half-mast.

The Presidency said that Mahama had suspended all his official activities for the day.

More to come…

Iranian state media describe the confrontation as ‘tense’, while US military says the encounter was ‘professional’.

Iran has said it warned a United States Navy destroyer to change course as it approached Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, but the US has claimed the confrontation was “professional” and had “no impact” on its naval mission.

Iranian state media published video and images of Wednesday’s incident – the first direct encounter reported between Iranian and US forces since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June – taken from a helicopter dispatched to confront the USS Fitzgerald guided missile destroyer.

“US destroyer ‘Fitzgerald’ attempted to approach waters under Iran’s monitoring, in a provocative move”, Iranian state television said.

In video footage of the reported encounter, a helicopter is seen flying in close proximity to the warship and an Iranian crew member can be heard issuing what appeared to be a radio warning in English to the warship, ordering it to change course as it was approaching Iran’s territorial waters at about 10am local time (06:00 GMT).

Iranian state media have described the encounter as a tense exchange.

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News on Wednesday released footage it claimed showed an Iranian navy helicopter forcing the USS Fitzgerald, a US guided missile destroyer, to alter its course. The report said the warship had approached waters under Iran’s supervision in the Sea of Oman. pic.twitter.com/gcfMQ23K6f

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) July 23, 2025

The US destroyer reportedly responded by threatening to target the Iranian aircraft if it did not leave. The vessel eventually departed the area upon continued warnings from the Iranian military.

US Central Command disputed the Iranian account of tension, calling the incident a “safe and professional interaction”.

Asked about the encounter, a US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity with the Reuters news agency, also downplayed its seriousness.

“This interaction had no impact to USS Fitzgerald’s mission, and any reports claiming otherwise are falsehoods and attempts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to spread misinformation,” the official said.

The official, who said the interaction took place entirely in international waters, identified the aircraft as an Iranian SH-3 “Sea King” helicopter.

The US military inserted itself into Israel’s war against Iran last month when it bombed Iranian nuclear sites. US President Donald Trump hailed the strikes as a “spectacular” success that “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.

But media reports in the US, citing intelligence assessments, suggest the campaign was only partially successful, with just one of the three Iranian nuclear sites – the Fordow facility – reportedly destroyed.

In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was committed to continuing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes, and that his country is prepared for any future war that Israel might wage against it.

He added that he was not optimistic about the ceasefire between the countries.

Helicopter with eight people on board crashes at Aden Adde airport, the main international airport in Mogadishu.

A helicopter used by an African Union peacekeeping mission has crashed at the international airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least three people, authorities said.

The incident occurred at Aden Adde airport on Wednesday as the helicopter was trying to land, according to Artan Mohamed, the head of the immigration office at the airport.

The helicopter, which belonged to the Ugandan Air Force but was being operated by the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), had taken off from Baledogle Airfield in the Lower Shabelle region with eight people on board, he said.

The fate of the remaining five people on board has yet to be determined, said a Ugandan military spokesperson.

Witnesses described the helicopter plummeting to the ground and exploding, causing a fire.

Abdirahim Ali, who lives nearby, said he saw “a huge explosion and smoke everywhere” while aviation officer Omar Farah told The Associated Press news agency that he “saw the helicopter spinning and then it fell very fast”.

Minor delays were reported at the airport, but the director-general of the country’s civil aviation authority said that flights had resumed.

“The situation is under control. The runway is clear and fully operational – flights can land and take off as usual,” Ahmed Macalin Hassan noted.

The AUSSOM mission has more than 11,000 personnel in Somalia from countries including Uganda and Kenya.

They are helping the Somali military to counter the armed group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that wants to topple the country’s government and establish its own rule.

This week, the Somali army killed a prominent leader from the group in the Middle Shabelle region, state media reported.

Quoting military sources, the Somali National News Agency said the leader was targeted during an operation in the Dar Nama’a area.