US Forces kill senior operative of Terror Group Hurras al-Din in Syria.
The aftermath of the airstrike that killed Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir in Northwestern Syria.
On January 30th US CENTCOM (Central Command) forces conducted an airstrike in northwestern Syria targeting a senior operative of the US classified Terror group Huertas Al-Din (HaD) an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. The target was Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir a former ISIS member who later went on to become a member of the Syrian At-Qaeda branch. Not much else is known about him besides that CENTCOM describes him as a “Senior member” in the group.
A statement from CENTCOM on the strike:
“The airstrike is part of CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond”
It ends with a warning from commander of CENTCOM, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla.
“CENTCOM will continue to hunt and kill or capture terrorists and defend our homeland against groups that plot to attack U.S. and allied personnel,”
Wreckage of Flight 5342Search and rescue efforts underway.Images from a rescue helicopter show the debris in the river.
PSA Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ700 passenger jet ,registered N530EA, was on a Wichita, Kansas -to-D.C path when on final approach for runway 33 at Ronald Regan Airport (DCA) when a Blackhawk helicopter, carrying 3 people collided with the plane sending it into the Potomac river with its 60 passengers and 4 crew aboard. One person on the ground was also killed as both aircraft fell into the river.
ADS-B exchange shows the flight of the CRJ at the time of impact.ADS-B shows the path of the Blackhawk before impact.
A search a rescue effort involving over 300 people has failed to turn up any survivors. 18 body’s have been pulled from the river at the time of writing.
Initially, there was some confusion on the identity of the helicopter as it was first mistakenly reported as apart of the DC metro police fleet and then again misidentified as UH-60 used for VIP transport. Heather Chairez, a spokesperson for the joint task force-National Capital Region confirmed the aircraft was a UH-60 Blackhawk on a training mission.
Airports have altitude restrictions for helicopters, usually keeping them around 200ft above ground level at the point of impact the plane would have been around 400-500 ft. Audio released after the accident confirms that the plane was pointed out to the helicopter crew. It’s likely that when asked to confirm they could see the plane, they might have looked at another plane that was coming in at the same time to land on a different runway. The plane was in a blind spot that would have been difficult to see.
More information will come out in the following days. This is all based on information I’ve gathered from statements given by officials as well as open sources and could possibly be flawed.
Info will be added here as it come out.
Updates.
Helicopter was with Bravo Company 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. It was conducting a training flight at the time of the crash.
Several aviation enthusiasts around the DC area have said that a crash like this around Ronald Reagan was a case of “when not if” Helicopters regularly fly that route down the river coming within a couple hundred feet of airplanes on final.
Hi, this is Scott. I just wanted to say that my heart goes out to those affected by this accident. Tragedies like this are the hardest for me to write about but I know that doesn’t compare to the pain felt by those affected.
Global Conflict Reporting 
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