For many, the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, like the one involved in the Wednesday collision over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., is familiar for one reason: the 2001 movie "Black Hawk Down ," based on the 1993 shooting down of U.S. Black Hawk helicopters during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.

The military helicopter that collided with a regional jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in a crash that killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft, was a UH-60 Black Hawk, considered the “workhorse” of U.

These two Sikorsky UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopters shown on approach during Han Kuang military exercises in Taiwan in 2023 are like the one involved in the Washington, D.C., crash with an American Airlines plane.

Here are 10 key things to know about the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the incident, its capabilities, and the mission it was conducting at the time of the crash.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

The GE T901 engine was developed as part of the Improved Turbine Engine Program to replace the T700 engines used by U.S. Army’s UH-60s and the AH-64s, and

The helicopter collided with passenger plane carrying 64 people and crew, crashing into the Potomar River late on Wednesday night.

A U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter has completed initial ground runs with two of the new T901 Improved Turbine Engines. Developed under the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the T901 was planned to power the now-canceled Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) but will instead make its way into the UH-60 and the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

Military spokesman Ron McLendon II said the Army is joining an investigation into the crash headed by the National Transportation Security Board.

The Black Hawk is a US Army workhorse helicopter. It has been flying for decades. One tragically collided with a passenger jet this week.

The UH-60 Black Hawk is the helicopter involved in a crash with a passenger jet on Wednesday night near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

A Black Hawk helicopter can transport up to "12 fully equipped, seated troops in combat," according to Lockheed Martin, the weapons company that builds the helicopter. There are about 5,000 of these helicopters in use by the United States Military.