• Air Force Helicopter Shot Over VA, One Crew Member Hospitalized

    August 12, 2020
    2
    120131-N-XK513-120.ATLANTIC OCEAN (Jan. 31, 2012) -- A Sailor directs a UH-1 Huey helicopter with VMM-261 during flight operations onboard amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) during Certification Exercise (CERTEX). CERTEX is the final qualification for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group before their scheduled spring deployment. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ian Carver / RELEASED).

    A UH-1N Huey helicopter that is assigned to 1st Helicopter Squadron at Joint Base Andrews was flying about 1,000 feet above Northern Virginia during a routine training exercise when the aircraft was struck by a bullet fired from the ground. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing and a regional airport as a result, and one crew member sustained injuries.

    What we know:

    At 12:20pm on August 12th, a call was made to Manassass Regional Airport to alert officials of an incoming military helicopter and a request for paramedics.

    Google Map image of Manassass Regional Airport just outside of Washington D.C.

    The Washington Field Office for the Federal Bureau of Investigations has confirmed the shooting report and also that special agents as well as the FBI's Evidence Response Team have been sent to Virginia to investigate.

    FBI Statement:

    The FBI Washington Field Office is working jointly with our law enforcement partners, including the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. One individual in the helicopter sustained a non-threatening injury, for which he was treated and subsequently released from the hospital... Anyone near this area at the time of the incident who may have information please call the FBI at 202-78-2000.

    The UH-1N helicopter had departed the base in Maryland and was making its way over Virginia when a bullet shot from the ground made impact. The injuries sustained on an unidentified serviceman were related to shooting and they have been taken to an area hospital for treatment.

    Joint Base Andrews is where Air Force helicopters normally take President Donald Trump to board Air Force One and escort the presidential aircraft.

    Air Force Office of Special Investigations and local law enforcement agencies are also conducting investigations into the incident.

    A statement from Joint Andrews Base:

    The Office of Special Investigations is fully engaged with our FBI colleagues on this incident. OSI take threats to our Airmen and our resources very seriously. As this is an ongoing investigation, no further investigative details can be released at this time

    No official word on the suspect at this time. Damaging an aircraft in the US comes with a hefty minimum of a 20 year federal prison sentence.

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    CDM Staff

    The mission at Creative Destruction Media is to be the catalyst for the "process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one."
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    Tracy

    Fact check....The Air Force manages the Plane (ie: Air Force One)
    The President travels via helicopter run by the Marines....Marine One...
    Different Branches of the Military.
    Facts are Facts....

    Craig

    The FBI's response will depend on if the bullet was fired by a democrat.

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