Free Republic

Cartel members were seen laughing after a National Guard helicopter carrying three soldiers and a Border Patrol agent crashed near the southern border in Texas. In video footage from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent, obtained by Fox News, cartel members were seen watching the National Guards helicopter plummet to the ground with their drone. Following the devastating crash, the cartel members were heard cackling.

President Biden referred to the presidential helicopter Marine One as “Air Force Helicopter One” Monday — while claiming that Ronald Reagan sent the chopper to take him from Delaware to the DC-area Walter Reed military hospital when Biden had a brain aneurysm in the 1980s. The 81-year-old’s anecdote is, like other biographical details he’s shared in public remarks, not supported by his own autobiography — or by Reagan’s daily presidential diary. “President Reagan was nice enough to send Air Force Helicopter One to take me down, but it couldn’t fly,” Biden told firefighters during a day-trip to Philadelphia, using an...

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska wept Wednesday over the helicopter crash on the outskirts of Kyiv that killed 14 people, including Ukraine’s interior minister and at least one child. Photos showed Zelenska wiping her eyes as she attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Unfortunately it’s just another horrible day for Ukraine,” Zelenska said. “From the outside it may seem that we must be used to it by now, but unfortunately we are not.” Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi was killed when the French-made Super Puma helicopter he was riding in crashed Wednesday. The helicopter plowed into a kindergarten in...

Peter Fonda as Wyatt (aka Captain America) in 1969's 'Easy Rider.' =============================================================== Fifty years later, the filmmaker and those involved and close to the groundbreaking biker movie (and soundtrack) look back at the wild ride: "I knew how it was going to end when I started writing it." If 1939 was cinema's golden year, 1969 was its watershed. Though Hollywood was still producing big-budget films (Hello, Dolly!) and features starring such veterans as John Wayne (True Grit), the counterculture was quickly taking root. That year heralded the arrival of such new filmmakers as Paul Mazursky (Bob & Carol & Ted...

FAA confirms that two people were killed after a state police helicopter crashed in Charlottesville around 5 p.m. Saturday.

Breitbart Texas has learned that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter was shot down or forced to initiate an emergency landing in Laredo, Texas due to receiving gunfire from the Mexican side of the border

HOUSTON, Texas--Breitbart Texas has confirmed that on Thursday morning a Mexican military helicopter flew into the U.S. and shot at Border Patrol agents. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol provided Breitbart Texas with a statement that said, "At approximately 5:45 a.m. Thursday morning, a Mexican law enforcement helicopter crossed approximately 100 yards north into Arizona nearly 8 miles southwest of the Village of San Miguel on the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation while on a law enforcement operation near the border. Two shots were fired from the helicopter but no injuries or damage to U.S. property were reported. The incident is currently...

Border Patrol agents in Arizona were reportedly fired upon by a Mexican military helicopter that traveled across the border. KVOA-TV reports that Mexican authorities were conducting a drug interdiction operation when the incident happened early Thursday morning on the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation. The Mexican chopper fired at the agents and then flew back into Mexico.

Last Tuesday, Sipsey Street Irregular Mike Vanderboegh (and also Seattle Gun Rights Examiner Dave Workman) speculated on rumors that a drug trafficking syndicate's .50 caliber rifle that forced a Mexican military helicopter into an emergency landing was a "Project Gunwalker" gun. Mr. Vanderboegh was quoting CleanUpATF.org forum member who posts under the name "Epic Failure" (emphasis added): Wanna lay money on where the rifles came from? Word is that full blown panic is taking place in the hallways at 99 New York Avenue [BATFE headquarters in Washington D.C.]. Rumor is that a 50 was also seized. The recoveries of violence...

RIO DE JANEIRO – A police helicopter flying over an intense shootout between rival drug gangs in a Rio slum was hit by gunfire Saturday and crashed in a fiery explosion on a football field. Two officers were killed while the pilot and another officer on board suffered burns but managed to escape, a police spokesman said. Bullets flying from the Morro dos Macacos ("Monkey Hill" in Portuguese) slum in northern Rio de Janeiro hit the pilot in the leg as he hovered above the clash, causing him to lose control and crash, turning the helicopter into a blackened wreck.

Authorities have charged a former US marine marksman with shooting down a sheriff's helicopter, alleging that he bragged to investigators that it would be no problem for him to "make that shot". Jason Kerns, 29, was arrested on Monday for the August 6 shooting. He allegedly told investigators he watched the chopper go down but apparently made no direct admission of responsibility. Kerns was being held on $US1.8 million ($2.3 million) bond. Authorities recovered firearms from the suspect's home, including a rifle they believe was used in the shooting, along with boxes of ammunition. Pilot Chris Holland and sheriff's deputy...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in a helicopter flight on the way to a tour of northern Israel, when the IAF spotted what is believed to have been a Hizbullah UAV in the skies of Haifa Thursday. The prime minister's staff, in consultation with security elements, decided to take no chances and instructed the helicopter pilot to land for a short time, until the successful interception of the UAV. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) penetrated Israeli air space from Lebanon Thursday, and was shot down. At around 2:00 p.m. Israel time (11:00 GMT), IAF aircraft belonging to the aerial defense...

Justice Dept. chopper used for football drop at HS homecoming • State agents investigate apparent unauthorized use of police helicopter SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —California taxpayers shelled out hundreds of dollars for the apparent unauthorized use of a police helicopter at a high school football game. The helicopter incident involved a high school homecoming event that top law enforcement supervisors at the Department of Justice knew nothing about, KCRA 3 has learned. The incident took place last November, when a DOJ helicopter hovered over El Dorado Hills for a homecoming game at Oak Ridge High School. In a video later uploaded...

An experienced pilot was lucky to escape with his life when his helicopter clipped a wire while erecting a Christmas tree and slammed into Auckland's popular Viaduct wharf. Greg Gribble walked away virtually unscathed after his aircraft spun out of control and crashed on the waterfront promenade during a live-streamed event on Wednesday morning to put up the 26-metre tall Telecom Christmas tree. The helicopter had been hovering just metres from the ground when the blades caught a wire, breaking off the tail and sending the chopper to the ground. Dramatic footage of the incident, carried live on the TVNZ...

(CNN) -- A week ago, 10-year-old Braydon Nichols started to think about his dad and how much he missed him. Army Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Nichols, a helicopter pilot, had been deployed for two months in Afghanistan. The little boy, in the car with his mother running errands, brushed back his dirty-blond hair and ran his hand over his cheek. Jessica Nichols looked over when she heard sniffles. Her son was crying. "When is Dad coming back so we go camping?" he asked her. Soon, she assured him. "Your dad is off fighting for this country." The boy replied, "As...

In case you didn’t see this earlier, U.S. Aerospace is back. You know, the shady company that was disqualified from bidding in the Air Force’s $35 billion KC-X contest with Antonov-based designs. Now they’re apparently teaming with China’s state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation to bid on the Marines’ VXX presidential helicopter replacement effort. Apparently, they’re going to offer China’s knock-off of the half century-old Super Frelon (pictured above) as a replacement for the half century-old Sea Kings that are currently flown as Marine One. Yup, this one will go far. Let’s see how they get disqualified from bidding this time.

US Shoulders France, Russia Out of Saudi Helicopter Market (Source: defense-aerospace.com; published Oct. 25, 2010) By Giovanni de Briganti PARIS --- Assuming it goes through as planned, the $60 billion arms package for Saudi Arabia notified to the US Congress on Oct. 20 is highly significant in that it clearly signals that the US has finally succeeded in locking two major competitors – France and Russia – out of the Saudi arms market that it is forced to share with the United Kingdom. Just four years ago, France was on the brink of signing a series of arms contracts with...

9 killed, 3 hurt in Afghanistan chopper crash KABUL, Afghanistan – All nine troops killed in the worst helicopter crash for the coalition in Afghanistan in four years were Americans, the Pentagon has confirmed without providing further information on why the aircraft carrying Navy special forces went down.

The first S-70iTM BLACK HAWK helicopter has successfully completed its first flight, officially launching an international variant and the newest Sikorsky Aircraft product to follow in the legacy of the BLACK HAWK helicopter. Aircraft 0001, the first in the new product line, was built at PZL Mielec, a Sikorsky Aircraft company in Poland. PZL Mielec has been established as the hub of the S-70i program for international customers. The successful first flight of the S-70i aircraft took place on July 1 at the Sikorsky Development Flight Center. "Aeronautical history was made with the first flight of the S-70i BLACK HAWK...

Germany, Israel and Taiwan top the list of countries interested in Sikorsky’s new CH-53K, now scheduled for first flight in 2013. The heavy lifter, which is headed for service with the U.S. Marine Corps, has suffered from delays, including a slip in initial operational capability of three years, to 2018. The delays seem not to faze the Marines and the CH-53K program office at Naval Air Systems Command (Navair). The extra time “buys [foreign countries] time to make an informed decision,” says Capt. Rick Muldoon, program manager. Germany operates about 80 CH-53D model aircraft, designated the CH-53G, 40 of which...