Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says it's "unacceptable" that two commercial jetliners had to abort landings this week at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter The incident Thursday afternoon occurred three months after 67 people were killed in a midair collision near the airport between a Black Hawk and a passenger jet In an email reported by Politico Federal Aviation Administration assistant administrator for government and industry affairs said the Army helicopter "took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport." Senn said the helicopter violated safety standards and required air traffic controllers to order two commercial jetliners to perform "go-around maneuvers," aborting their landings and returning on another approach Restrictions were placed on helicopter flights near the airport, whose airport code is DCA, after a Jan. 29 midair collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet that was attempting to land at DCA It was the deadliest aviation accident in the U.S "Unacceptable. Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear," Duffy said in a post on the social platform X No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians." involved a Delta Air Lines flight and a Republic Airways flight The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are both carrying out investigations Duffy said he'll also be talking to officials at the Defense Department about "why the hell our rules were disregarded." In March, following the release of a preliminary investigation report into the January crash, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy described the flight patterns around DCA as "an intolerable risk" as helicopters and commercial planes operate close to each other in the busy airspace over Washington An NTSB analysis found that from 2011 to 2024 there was at least one "close call" each month between a commercial plane operating at the airport and a helicopter Duffy permanently restricted nonessential helicopter operations around DCA In late March, a close call between a Delta plane and an Air Force jet outside Washington triggered a collision warning and "corrective instructions" from air traffic controllers Become an NPR sponsor Acroterion/Wikimedia/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en Reuters is reporting that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is calling for more restrictions on Army helicopter operations at Reagan National Airport after two airliners were ordered to go around last Thursday to keep separation from a Black Hawk en route to the Pentagon "No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians Take a taxi or Uber—besides most VIPs have black car service," Duffy said Friday But the Army said it followed the rules on Thursday in what appeared to be a routine deconfliction for an unforeseen change in its operation "While conducting flight operations into the Pentagon in accordance with published FAA flight routes and DCA Air Traffic Control a UH-60 Blackhawk was directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a 'go-around,' overflying the Pentagon helipad in accordance with approved flight procedures," the Army said in a statement to Reuters DCA Air Traffic Control issued a 'go-around' to two civil fixed wing aircraft to ensure the appropriate deconfliction of airspace." The FAA announced new rules for helicopters after the Jan 29 collision between a Black Hawk and an American Eagle flight that killed all 67 people on both aircraft Reuters said the Black Hawk crew was rehearsing an emergency evacuation The NTSB and FAA are both looking into the go-arounds which involved a Delta A319 coming from Orlando and a Republic Airways E170 from Boston the FAA shut down the helicopter route that the accident helicopter used and banned most helicopter flights near the airport when two smaller runways are in use but it also said exceptions would be made based on the mission Duffy wasn't the only government official to suggest Thursday's flight was unnecessary "The Army is once again putting the traveling public at risk," Sen "It’s time for the FAA to act swiftly and assert control over the national airspace so the Army stops running air taxis for military officials near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport." Sen urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to have a word with the Army "This comes less than a week after this brigade resumed flights in the National Capital Region," she told Reuters "It is far past time for Secretary Hegseth and the FAA to give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves," she said Caroline Mason running in the 1600m in the downpour The Dutch competed in the Blackhawk Invitational on Friday April 25 and fought through some heavy rain in the middle portion of the meet The Boys took home 2nd place out of nine teams with 111 points and only trailed host Leslie The boys won six of the 17 events and were 2nd in two others The Girls just missed out on 3rd place by three points and finished with 59 points the Flying Dutchmen came away with a split at Michigan Center in a Conference dual The boys overcame a rocky start to pull away late as they defeated Michigan Center 82-54 The win moves the boys to 3-1 in the Dual meet season and tied for 1st in the East Division The girls lost a close hard fought dual 61.5-74.5 MITCA does their weekly Power Rankings and both Teams have been ranked inside the top 10 the last three weeks The Boys are currently ranked 4th in the State in D4 and the Girls are currently ranked 8th in the State in D4 This is a ranking of your total team depth as it ranks 3 athletes in every event as well as your relays The rankings become more accurate as the season progresses The Dutch are in a good spot after the first month of competition Brett Brothers throwing Shot Put as Nathan Fletcher watches Ethan Hittle running the 400m at the Blackhawk Invitational by Sara Swanson writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror It is crunch time for softball programs across the Beaver Valley as the end of the regular season is quickly approaching and the postseason is just two weeks away Here is a look at last week's softball action across the Beaver Valley Leading offBeaver Area’s Sami Springman puts on a showSpringman put together a dominant week at the plate for Beaver Area in a crucial stretch of games Springman went 3-for-3 with six RBIs to go along with a double in the team’s 17-2 win over Ambridge she added another three hits and four RBIs with a double and a home run as Beaver Area went on to win 13-6 Springman capped off the week in the team’s second game against Ambridge with two hits and two RBIs in the 15-1 win No team in the Beaver Valley has been hotter than West Allegheny over the past three weeks after dropping its section game on the road to Chartiers Valley on April 14 the team has rattled off seven consecutive victories jumping into first place in the WPIAL Class 5A Section III standings The team wrapped up its section schedule by avenging its loss to Chartiers Valley by taking the game 3-2 on April 28 It then went on to complete two section sweeps over Moon Area and Montour shutting out Moon Area 4-0 and beating Montour 14-7 West Allegheny will wrap up the regular season with a non-section contest against Union on May 5 Required Reading: Blackhawk junior softball pitcher provides a spark that the team needs late in season Central Valley on the verge of a playoff berthIt has been a roller coaster of a season for first year head coach Brittany McKittrick’s squad which at one point lost five consecutive games in April with its playoff picture looking bleak But after rattling off back-to-back victories this past week Central Valley has a shot to secure a playoff spot with one more week of section games to play Central Valley began last week with a big 13-6 win over North Catholic as Aubrey Grater drove home four runs It then picked up a big 4-3 victory over Blackhawk which was sitting in second place in the section at the beginning of the week Grater tallied four RBIs and two hits in the win The team will now face Western Beaver and Beaver Area to wrap up section play Springman was dominant for Beaver Area as she began the week with three hits and six RBIs in the team’s win over Ambridge She continued her strong play Wednesday collecting an additional three hits and four RBIs in the team’s 13-6 win over Western Beaver She capped off the week with two hits and two RBIs in the team’s 15-1 win over Ambridge Beaver AreaAfter going 1-for-2 to begin the week against Ambridge Peabody capped off her week with a 3-for-4 effort with seven RBIs and two home runs in the team’s win over Ambridge home run and drove in two runs in the team’s 6-1 win over Ellwood City McQuiston went six innings allowing three runs and struck out eight in the team’s 13-3 win over Quaker Valley Pinter drove in three runs hitting a double and a triple in the team’s 11-1 win over Burgettstown Barkovich went 3-for-3 with three RBIs hitting a home run and a double in a 10-2 win over Quaker Valley BlackhawkLinder drove in three runs in a 9-0 win over Western Beaver Schwarz went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and three doubles as Ellwood City defeated Beaver Falls 17-2 on April 28 Grater collected eight RBIs across Central Valley’s two games last week the shortstop homered while tallying two hits and four RBIs She capped off the week against Blackhawk with an additional four RBIs to go along with a double and home run Silver Lake and P2 Capital weigh $5bn+ sale or IPO of Blackhawk Network amid payments sector M&A surge The private equity owners are working with advisers to assess both a full sale and a potential public market return via an initial public offering (IPO) but early interest from other financial sponsors suggests the possibility of one of the largest secondary buyouts in the payments sector this year Silver Lake and P2 originally acquired Blackhawk for $3.5bn and have since expanded its presence in digital and branded payments partnering with leading consumer brands such as Target The potential exit comes amid a wave of consolidation across the payments landscape and platform synergies have become critical competitive advantages Recent landmark transactions include GTCR and FIS’s agreement to sell Worldpay to Global Payments for $24.3bn and AvidXchange also weighing strategic alternatives Silver Lake and P2 could be well-positioned to capitalise on strong private equity appetite for payments infrastructure assets the sale would deliver a significant return on their original investment reinforcing the attractiveness of the payments sector as a value creation opportunity for private equity Silver Lake and Blackhawk declined to comment while P2 Capital Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment Source: Bloomberg If you think we missed any important news, please do not hesitate to contact us at news@pe-insights.com Subscribe to our Newsletter to increase your edge through our newsletter you’ll receive weekly access to what is happening By signing up for our newsletter, you accept our terms and conditions as outlined under pe-insights.com/privacy-policy Air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport told the Delta and Republic flights to perform "go-arounds" because of the "priority air transport helicopter" Charlotte Phillipp is a Weekend Writer-Reporter at PEOPLE and was previously an entertainment reporter at The Messenger Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information Source: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images seeking more than $5 billion for the prepaid gift card provider The private equity firms are working with advisers to weigh options for the company who asked to not be identified because the details aren’t public They are also considering an initial public offering for the company The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t exactly have the season they hoped for and Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson probably isn’t too upset about having another high pick to add to his collection of prospects the Blackhawks will discover whether they’ll have the first Here’s everything you need to know heading into the lottery the Blackhawks wouldn’t be allowed to “win” the lottery again until the 2027 one because of the league’s rule that no team can move up to No It’s important to understand that winning a lottery means moving up in the draft from your starting position The Blackhawks moved up from the third pick (after finishing 30th in the regular season) to the first pick in 2023 But a team could finish in 32nd place and end up with the first pick and it wouldn’t be considered winning the lottery because it didn’t advance from its standings position the Blackhawks could move up to the first pick this year and still pick first next year But that would be alarming for Davidson because a last-place finish would raise questions about where the organization is headed that would likely create some interesting conversations within Chicago’s hockey operations department Defenseman Matthew Schaefer is the consensus best player in the 2025 draft But the Blackhawks are already loaded up on defense after using a lot of early-round draft picks on the position under Davidson Kevin Korchinski with the No.7 pick in 2022 and Sam Rinzel with the No the Blackhawks have 24-year-old Alex Vlasic who signed a six-year extension before last season; 22-year-old Wyatt Kaiser who took a step in his game last season; and several other young defensemen Davidson was asked recently about potentially drafting another defenseman so high … We’re not going to close off any avenue there of course – but you’ve got one day to acquire the best talent out of a draft You’ve got the rest of the time to manipulate a roster or a depth chart or an organizational strength or a weakness And so our job in the draft is to acquire talent “We’ve always gone best player available in our minds and what we think could impact the organization the most and we’ll continue to do that and deal with an overload of strength … I’m not closed off to taking a forward or a defenseman.” but drafting Schaefer would complicate Davidson’s rebuild Maybe it means the Blackhawks would eventually trade Schaefer or another defenseman they wouldn’t want to move on from any of their young defensemen yet especially after devoting so many resources to their development Korchinski hasn’t been what the Blackhawks hoped for yet but it’s still so early in his development You normally play only one defenseman on the top power play you usually don’t want to devote too high a percentage of your salary cap space to your defensemen and you also have to be careful about exposing yourself to possible offer sheets with so many young players on your roster Kaiser continues to develop as he has been and one of those young defensemen pans out having an excess of elite defensemen isn’t the same as having an excess of forwards The Blackhawks could take the best forward available with the top pick Some experts believe center Michael Misa isn’t that far from Schaefer’s upside Misa was impressive in the OHL this season and most draft experts have him as the top forward in the draft The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler has Schaefer and Misa as Tier 1 players Davidson has already said he’s open to moving his first pick this year when the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired the No 1 pick from the Florida Panthers and drafted Marc-André Fleury There’s a calculator on PuckPedia you can play with to gauge the value of draft picks it would take a lot for the Blackhawks to get equal value Unless the Blackhawks get a proven NHL player in exchange they probably won’t want to move too far from a top-six selection Wheeler has six players in his first two tiers and The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has five players in those tiers Misa would be the easy selection if he’s there If Misa goes first and Schaefer is available the Blackhawks will have the same above considerations at No Misa would complement what the Blackhawks already have He can create for others (fourth in the OHL in assists) and score (second to Nick Lardis in goals with 62) Pronman wrote of Misa: “He projects as a star No 1 center in the NHL that you can build a winning team around.” If you add Misa to a forward pool of Bedard Ryan Greene and Colton Dach as potential top-six forwards — there might even be a few more from the last few drafts — the Blackhawks would like where they’re headed The Blackhawks have to be happy with their drafts under director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey Schaefer and Misa are most draft experts’ top two players in the draft Anton Frondell and Caleb Desnoyers are in the next group of players and are often ranked in different orders might be a little too similar to what the Blackhawks already have in their forward pool The Blackhawks know they probably need some bigger players alongside Bedard Frondell is 6-1 and 198 pounds and Desnoyers is 6-2 and 178 pounds If I had to choose for the Blackhawks at No 3 and Misa and Schaefer were off the board Marcus Krüger recently shared his thoughts on Frondell after playing the season with him in Sweden “I think he’s like the whole package,” Krüger said he’s not going to play with me for very long here it probably comes down to Desnoyers and Martone Wheeler wrote of Martone: “Martone’s got a pro game and frame finishes his checks and will drop the gloves He handles the puck smoothly for his size and can be quite noticeable in possession when he’s playing with confidence and intention cleanly beat goalies from midrange with his strong shot and release and execute low-to-high plays from below the goal line or off the cycle.” Pronman wrote on Desnoyers: “He checks every box for what you want in an NHL center He’s tall and fast and makes a lot happen with and without the puck Desnoyers displays excellent skill and playmaking ability while also being a detailed two-way player.” The Blackhawks also will have the Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft pick in the first round The Blackhawks also have two second-round picks and a third-round pick The third-round pick is their own that they re-acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the Taylor Hall trade the Blackhawks will have five picks in the draft’s first 65 selections They had four picks in the first 67 selections last year six in the first 66 selections in 2023 and six in the first 66 in 2022 The Army Black Hawk helicopter crew involved in the midair collision with an American Eagle CRJ700 last January at Reagan National Airport had turned off ADS-B because they were practicing a classified flight profile, according to a New York Times investigation The Times story released Sunday said the crew was rehearsing the extraction of high-level government officials because of an attack on Washington when it collided with the CRJ All 67 people on both aircraft died and the aircraft crashed into the Potomac It was also a qualification flight for Capt who was flying with instructor CWO2 Andrew Eves The lack of an ADS-B signal and the potential warning it might have provided controllers over the altitude of the helicopter have become prominent investigative paths for the various authorities involved The reason the ADS-B Out transponder was not emitting a signal that night had not been disclosed by investigators The Times story is an investigative dive into the events leading up to the catastrophe which was the first major airliner crash in the U.S based on tower tapes and radar track information airmanship and communications factors that culminated with the collision on the evening of Jan The disaster has already resulted in a number of changes at DCA and some other airports including the requirement that ADS-B be activated on all aircraft except for some classified flights The FAA has also banned helicopter traffic in the immediate areas of the runways The NTSB's final report won't be ready for about a year ― Blackhawk High School will present "Shrek the Musical" this weekend The role of Shrek will be alternated by Jude Pfister and Bennett Jones Tickets are available at https://blackhawkmusical.ludus.com/index.php Don't miss your chance to see this fairy tale come to life on stage – with unforgettable songs Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Morning Chirps: No Worlds for Connor Bedard Morning Chirps: Capitals & Panthers Advance Blackhawks Head Coaching Tracker: Top Candidates Morning Chirps: Another Head Coach Becomes Available Calder Cup Playoffs: IceHogs Look to Reverse Fortunes Versus Wolves Blackhawks Prospect of the Week: Aidan Thompson Stays Hot As Denver Rolls Blackhawks Prospect Check-In: Kantserov Leads a Trio of European Hopefuls Blackhawks Prospect Check-In: Plenty of Future NHLers in the College Ranks Blackhawks Prospect Check-In: Nick Lardis Leads the Way in the OHL We have entered the most important offseason of Kyle Davidson’s tenure as Chicago Blackhawks general manager In addition to another top-four pick and improving the roster While many feel that the next Blackhawks head coach must have NHL experience Davidson said it isn’t a deal-breaker in his search but we’ve probably come to the conclusion that it’s not the end-all “It’s certainly a feather in a candidate’s cap But it’s not necessarily something that we would consider mandatory if another candidate didn’t have that It’s not something that we’re going to use as a filter to rule people in or out with.” NHL experience didn’t matter in pursuing University of Denver head coach David Carle, who recently withdrew his name from consideration for the job We’ve also included “The Field,” which has names of other coaches who might be considered as we’ll be updating this with all the latest reports until a new head coach is named Mike Sullivan should be the Blackhawks’ top coaching candidate He’s gotten the most out of Hall of Famers He also has a presence in the locker room that the Blackhawks have missed since firing Joel Quenneville Sullivan will command instant respect the second he sets foot in Chicago The problem is that he’s likely the top candidate in other cities. He has past connections to the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins Sullivan doesn’t want to go to a rebuilding team so it will be up to Davidson to prove that the Blackhawks are further along than the national perception thinks—that Dan Bylsma was not expected to be a candidate for the Blackhawks job He was recently let go by the Seattle Kraken after just one season behind the bench He has a .596 points percentage over his 647 games as an NHL coach Bylsma won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2009 and the Jack Adams Award in 2011 His two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres were underwhelming but you can say that about every coach who has ever been behind their bench Before you label Bylsma as just another “retread” coach consider his two seasons with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHL He took them to back-to-back Calder Cup Finals in 2023 and 2024 working with young players like Shane Wright He’s had proven success with developing players Rick Tocchet will not be returning to the Vancouver Canucks, which makes him a top candidate in numerous coaching searches across the league. The Philadelphia Flyers became an instant favorite because Tocchet played over 600 games for them during his lengthy NHL career as people within the game say he’s a great coach Tocchet got instant results when he was hired by the Canucks this season was a circus with the Elias Pettersson and J.T That all happened in his locker room under his watch Tocchet will be harder on players than past Blackhawks coaches but it remains to be seen if what happened in Vancouver this season has hurt his reputation Jay Woodcroft only got one full season with the Edmonton Oilers in 2022-23 He won 50 games in the regular season and nearly took them to the Western Conference Finals he was fired 13 games into the 2023-24 season after a 3-9-1 start It’s important to note that superstar Connor McDavid dealt with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss a couple of games and not play up to par during this time Woodcroft was a finalist for the Columbus Blue Jackets job last offseason Coaches seem to have a bounce back at their second jobs They apply the lessons learned from their mistakes at their first job and use them to improve Look what Travis Green is doing with the Ottawa Senators in his second full-time gig that’s the case for Woodcroft if he lands the Blackhawks job Jay Woodcroft Updates5/1: Pierre LeBrun reported that the Anaheim Ducks have met with Woodcroft and Carle Anders Sorensen was thrown into a tough situation this past season after taking over for Luke Richardson in December He was in his element when the roster got younger after the trade deadline The strides some of the prospects took under his watch will keep him in consideration for the full-time job Sorensen received rave reviews from the players and Davidson on his way out this season He’s proven to be very good at developing young players Those skills can be learned with more time behind an NHL bench Sorensen and Davidson implied that he would remain with the organization even if he didn’t get the head coach job Whether that is at the NHL or AHL level is yet to be determined It feels like the offseason can’t officially begin until Brad Shaw interviews for a vacant head coaching position He has over 20 years of coaching experience in the IHL but he’s only been an NHL head coach on an interim basis He coached the New York Islanders for the final 40 games of the 2005-06 season and nine more for the Flyers this season he has had considerable success developing young defensemen and implementing an effective penalty kill He’s one of the most respected assistant coaches in the league Davidson interviewed him for the coaching vacancy in 2022 assistant)Jeff Blashill (Tampa Bay Lightning AHL)Jay Pandalfo (Boston University)Dave HakstolPascal Vincent Enter your email address to get all of our posts sent directly to your inbox Copyright © 2024 National Hockey Now Pilot error may have played a role in the January collision between a U.S Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and Bombardier CRJ-700 jet operating American Eagle Flight 5342 which killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft According to a New York Times report Captain Rebecca Lobach—who was piloting the Black Hawk for an annual evaluation flight in the airspace near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA)—failed to heed a directive from her instructor It is unclear why Lobach did not turn left as instructed which would have increased separation between the two aircraft The report also placed responsibility on the air traffic controller managing the aircraft as well as technology and procedures that may have created an unsafe situation “Multiple layers of safety precautions failed that night,” Katie Thomson former deputy director of the FAA under President Joe Biden lifted off in the Black Hawk around 6:45 p.m The flight was intended to evaluate Lobach’s piloting skills Lobach was the highest ranking member of the crew but Eaves and O’Hara each had logged more than double her flight hours Eaves piloted the aircraft while Lobach handled radio communications Their responsibilities switched after they made contact with the control tower at Reagan National Airport around 8:30 p.m Both were believed to be wearing night vision goggles cockpit voice recorder data indicated that Eaves who at that time had assumed visual separation responsibilities told Lobach he believed air traffic control (ATC) was telling them to move left Investigators also believe Eaves and Lobach may have missed critical instructions when they pressed their microphone keys to speak such as ATC’s directive to “pass behind” the passenger jet about 17 seconds before impact the controller had asked the crew if it had the CRJ in sight A conflict alert in the control tower could be heard in the background of the cockpit voice recording Turning left would have given the Black Hawk greater separation from the passenger jet in a congested portion of airspace The helicopter was following KDCA’s helicopter route 4 over the Potomac River crossing the jet’s path as it approached the airport’s runway 33 at about 300 feet According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation helicopters flying along that portion of route 4—which has a maximum allowable altitude of 200 feet—have only 75 feet of separation from aircraft approaching runway 33 the Black Hawk’s last recorded altitude was 278 feet while Eaves about 40 seconds later indicated they were at 400 feet The NTSB investigation revealed a history of close calls between helicopters and commercial airplanes at KDCA including at least one traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) advisory every month from 2011 to 2024 More than half of those incidents may have involved a helicopter flying above its permitted altitude there were 85 recorded instances where a helicopter and commercial aircraft had less than 200 feet of vertical separation the FAA in March eliminated the portion of route 4 where the collision occurred and barred all “nonessential” helicopter operations at KDCA Some regulators and controllers told the Times that the controller overseeing the helicopter and passenger jet could have done more to prevent the tragedy A few factors complicated the job for the controller The controller may also have struggled to pinpoint the Black Hawk’s location the helicopter was capable of transmitting ADS-B Out data But because the mission was considered confidential The controller instead relied on the helicopter’s transponder sending pings every five to 12 seconds NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency is investigating the “potential for equipment malfunction” with Black Hawk ADS-B Out systems Homendy said the UH-60 involved in the collision had not transmitted ADS-B data to FAA ground stations for more than two years prior to the accident Later in the hearing, acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau announced that the regulator would require any aircraft traveling through KDCA Class B airspace to turn on ADS-B Out Brigadier General Matthew Braman said the Army issued interim guidance to increase the risk level associated with approving ADS-B Out-off operations A tablet shows an active suppression task with the fire location and suppression plan visible California firefighters witnessed water drops from an autonomous Black Hawk® helicopter guided by Rain wildfire mission autonomy technology. a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT) and Rain a leader in the emerging firetech industry demonstrated and tested autonomous wildfire suppression techniques on both propane and burning brush piles using Sikorsky’s optionally piloted MATRIX flight autonomy system layered with Rain’s wildfire suppression planning software Performed in late April in Southern California the flight tests familiarized firefighters with the potential of autonomy to help crewed and uncrewed firefighting helicopters find and suppress early-stage wildfires “Sikorsky and Rain have integrated two autonomy systems: our MATRIX technology that controls the flight of any crewed or uncrewed aircraft and Rain’s wildfire mission autonomy system that finds and tracks the fire and navigates the aircraft to drop water onto the target,” said Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager Rich Benton incident commanders and pilots can choose a level of autonomy suitable for their mission adding new features as they experience improved flight safety gains and enhanced suppression functionality.” The autonomous wildfire suppression tests in late April were the first performed by Rain and Sikorsky in California over live fires in wildfire-prone terrain; at 3,300-ft altitude; sometimes in wind gusts up to 30 knots (35 mph) The tests were performed in close collaboration with firefighters from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District who built and set fire to multiple brush piles for the aircraft to find and suppress with water Sikorsky’s autonomous Black Hawk helicopter is equipped with fly-by-wire flight controls MATRIX allows operators to choose between fully autonomous and piloted modes Rain layered its mission autonomy onto the MATRIX system enabling a ground operator to command the Black Hawk aircraft using a Rain tablet to assign specific tasks including: Guiding the aircraft to a water source; filling the bucket in a hover; searching and finding a brush pile fire with the aircraft’s thermal sensor; determining the fire size; calculating the flight path speed and altitude to the fire; accounting for wind speed and direction during suppression; and determining the precise moment to release water to achieve the desired water coverage level sensors mounted on the aircraft geolocated the fire and streamed video to the ground operator’s command tablet for situational awareness and mission planning decision making Sikorsky safety pilots were hands-off the flight controls as the Black Hawk aircraft flew with a 324-gallon Bambi Bucket attached to a 40-ft line Wildfire Water Solutions provided the water source — a 189,000-gallon water tank installed less than a mile from three adjacent hilltop burn sites With the optionally piloted flexibility of Sikorsky’s MATRIX technology the Sikorsky and Rain team also demonstrated transition from autonomous control of the aircraft to piloted operation depending on the operational and environmental conditions the aircraft flew 24 hours in California during two weeks of flight Witnessing portions of the tests were representatives from CAL FIRE a crewed OCFA Sikorsky S-76 airborne command helicopter operated alongside the autonomous Black Hawk aircraft The joint flights demonstrated communication interoperability of the autonomous aircraft with a human-piloted helicopter in the same Fire Traffic Area "The technology that Rain and Sikorsky is demonstrating is a powerful part of the ecosystem of advancing fire service technology that is answering the year-round fire seasons we’re facing throughout California,” said Chief Dan Munsey “Of all the tools we have to keep wildfires small none are more effective than rapid suppression on initial attack of a wildfire Autonomous aircraft—both crewed and uncrewed—can increase flexibility and capacity for on-the-ground incident commanders ultimately saving lives and property for the communities we serve." The Black Hawk helicopter is similar to Firehawk™ helicopters flown by CAL FIRE CAL FIRE and local fire departments across California operate 24 Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk helicopters each equipped with a 1,000-gallon belly-mounted water tank Three more Firehawk helicopters are to be delivered to CAL FIRE this year “These initial attack flight tests on early-stage wildfires were of the highest value to Rain and Sikorsky as we mature our combined autonomy solution and a great first step for aerial firefighters to learn how autonomy can help a pilot suppress wildfire with greater safety and accuracy,” said Maxwell Brodie “We thank California’s firefighters for their considerable interest to help us showcase the benefits of autonomy as a tool to support the safety The demonstration was supported in part by a PG&E research and development grant About Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin is a global defense technology company driving innovation and advancing scientific discovery. Our all-domain mission solutions and 21st Century Security vision accelerate the delivery of transformative technologies to ensure those we serve always stay ahead of ready. More information at lockheedmartin.com ● JETAV Flight Academy acquires an A320 FNPT II MCC simulator from Entrol, strengthening its fixed-wing pilot training capabilities. ●... ROME, Italy, May 2nd, 2025 – Avincis, Europe’s largest provider of emergency aerial services, has mobilised two Canadair CL-415 firebombers from its... New System Replaces Legacy Tools with Streamlined Data Capture, Real-Time Insights, and Modern Aviation Analytics LOS ANGELES, California - April... Monday, 28 April 2025: A growing shortage of qualified engineers in the aviation sector has seen Australia’s largest heli-aviation operator,... © 2025 AerialFire, a Marsayl Media Publication. All rights Reserved. © 2025 AerialFire, a Marsayl Media Publication. All rights Reserved. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Army Black Hawk helicopter was 15 seconds away from crossing paths with the American Airlines jet on the eve of January 29 I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The pilot of the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into an American Airlines plane in DC made a fatal mistake in the moments before the collision The Black Hawk crew was said to have been first alerted to a regional passenger jet in its vicinity by Ronald Reagan National Airport air traffic control a common procedure that allows the pilot to avoid collisions by sight rather than relying on air traffic control instructions A controller approved the request but it appears not to have been followed The Hawk was 15 seconds away from crossing paths with the jet when Eaves told Lobach to take a sharp left toward the east river bank The report goes on to say that radio communication between air traffic controllers and the pilots became disrupted with some of the air instructions being “stepped on” This meant that communication dropped as soon as a member of the Hawk crew pressed down on the microphone to speak There were other issues that contributed to the tragedy Technology that tracked the aircraft's movements over the Potomac was switched off at the time of the crash which allows for pilots to practice secretly while airlifting a senior government official in an emergency Air traffic control errors may also have played a part After giving the Hawk crew permission for visual separation air control staff continued to monitor its movements but failed to deliver vital emergency instructions to the members as they closed in on the AA jet Captain Lobach and Warrant Officer Eaves were believed to be wearing night-vision goggles at the time of the military exercise Such equipment was necessary for her evaluation as they can enhance visibility at night in complex surroundings yet this can be skewered by bright urban lights “Multiple layers of safety precautions failed that night,” said the Federal Aviation Administration’s deputy administrator under President Joe Biden added: “I think what we’ll find in the end is there were multiple things that it could have well changed the outcome of that evening.” In statement to The Times the FAA said it could not discuss any aspect of its ongoing investigation into the deadly crash The Army has since made changes to how its helicopters use a safety system that broadcasts aircraft location and has reduced the number of flights over Washington following the DC crash, the head of Army aviation said earlier this month. The FAA has also permanently closed a route along the Potomac River that directly intersected the flight path for the runway where January’s collision took place. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies govt and politics/armed forces/air force"},{"score":0.785956,"label":"/travel/transports/air travel/airplanes"},{"score":0.755443,"label":"/business and industrial/logistics/air freight"},{"score":0.63024,"label":"/travel/transports/sea travel"},{"score":0.599526,"label":"/law Sophie Grace Clark is a Live News reporter based in London, with a focus on crime stories. She has also covered politics and entertainment extensively. Sophie joined Newsweek in 2024 from a freelance career and had previously worked at The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Star, OK Magazine, and MyLondon. She is a graduate of Middlebury College. You can get in touch with Sophie by emailing sg.clark@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Army has argued that he has the religious right to sell LSD on the dark web Black Hawk pilot Kyle Norton Riester claimed in a civil lawsuit that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 allowed him to sell and take the hallucinogenic drug because his "sacramental use" of LSD was part of a communal "religious exercise." The government is currently investigating Riester for drug trafficking saying he was facilitating religious experiences for himself and his community although he has admitted to selling LSD over the internet and has asked for injunctive relief from those accusing him of drug trafficking Riester's religious freedom request for relief and his request to continue taking LSD while proceedings are ongoing were rejected by Judge Anthony J A lawyer for Riester has been contacted via email for further comment Religious liberty is a fundamental tenet of the U.S Trenga has ruled it does not stretch to selling illegal drugs via the dark web Any consumption of a hallucinogenic drug is also a disqualifying factor for pilots per Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations Riester filed his case against Attorney General Pam Bondi and several other members of the Trump administration on April 3 who is currently serving on active duty with the 12th Aviation Battalion has argued that he "is a sincere religious practitioner" whose religious practice of sacramental LSD consumption is being impeded by the defendants An Army spokesperson told The Washington Post that Riester's discharge is pending and that he had been reassigned to administrative duties Riester had his first experience with the Schedule I drug while attending the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University He says this experience "was deeply religious and mystical in nature—allowing him direct communion with his creator." Riester claims that he used to consume LSD with a group of other religious practitioners in person but that became more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic During that time of "desperate need," he felt "a moral and religious obligation to provide his co-religionists with Sacrament should they be unable to acquire Sacrament-grade LSD safely and securely," which is why he "adapted" to an online marketplace to sell LSD to his community He used Bitcoin to facilitate these alleged transactions and has said he also believes Bitcoin to be sacred because of its "ability to facilitate transactions for the exchange of his Holy Sacrament to other co-religionists." His religion was not named in court documents or at Wednesday's hearing but Riester said his religious beliefs can be corroborated through Substack articles shared by him between 2021 and 2022 Those posts no longer appear to be available on Substack His filings state that he sold LSD via the dark web between September 2022 and May 2024 His home was raided on August 5, 2024, where FBI agents found no evidence of the drug itself but did seize electronic items and demanded Reister take a urine test He spent months collaborating with law enforcement officials after the raid and was given an April 4 deadline to take a plea deal Riester argued that any plea that forced him to cease the use of LSD would be an infringement of his religious rights and would cause him to "suffer irreparable harm to his conscience and religious identity." Riester's lawyers argue that the government "has no compelling interest in enforcing the Controlled Substances Act against the plaintiff" because according to their filings "LSD has been long-noted to have both a health and safety and abuse profile of a sufficient quality to negate any alleged 'compelling' governmental interest in enforcing the criminal provisions of the Controlled Substances Act." Attorneys who have said that Riester only claimed religious freedom grounds eight months after finding out about his drug trafficking investigation They say that: "He did not sell LSD in the context of a religious gathering or ritual or to people with whom he shared spiritual experiences; he sold LSD on the dark web a forum designed to ensure the anonymity of its users These circumstances strongly suggest that Plaintiff's distribution was a 'personal belief' and a 'choice that he made,' rather than a spiritual practice." The attorneys also dispute the idea that Riester was only selling LSD to religious practitioners he sold LSD to a 15-year-old and an undercover law enforcement officer They claim that Riester did not make any effort when selling the drug to ensure that it only went to religious practitioners Kyle Norton Riester court filings: "Plaintiff has primarily engaged in LSD use as part of a communal and intentional ritual and/or practice aimed at spiritual transformation and religious revelation preferring communal sellings which promote safety attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia court filings: "Even if Plaintiff could show a sincerely held religious belief in distribution courts have long recognized the government's compelling interest in preventing the diversion of controlled substances from religious to recreational users where Plaintiff solicited customers through the anonymous dark web and shipped at least 1,797 orders of LSD to users across the country the risk of diversion from Plaintiff's sales is more than theoretical—the government can prove that Plaintiff actually sold LSD to a minor as well as an undercover officer The government can police the diversion of drugs on the dark web only by prosecuting those As a result of his motions pleading religious exemptions Riester missed the April 4 deadline to sign a plea deal drafted by the government which would have resulted in him pleading guilty to a number of charges He will now face a trial which is set to begin in July Riester is also facing another court case in Texas over alleged money laundering Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter. Newsletters in your inbox See all — As Delta celebrated its 45-43 win over Blackhawk Christian in the IHSAA Class 3A regional at the New Castle Fieldhouse a Delta fan in the bleachers celebrated the upset win with an emphatic shout: "Blackhawk down!" it may be that "Black Hawk Down" is the name of a 2001 war film Directed by Ridley Scott and based on a book by Mark Bowden Army Rangers and Delta Force soldiers who are forced into a fight for their lives when two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down in a surprise attack during the Somali Civil War High school basketball is a far cry from the Battle of Mogadishu but there were some similarities between Scott's film and Saturday night's matchup where Delta claimed its third consecutive Class 3A regional title made clear by the scoreboard and even clearer by the loud Delta fan There was also a Delta force that banded together in its fight to stay alive — in the postseason "Black Hawk Down" also differs from other war films in that it focuses on collective efforts rather than following one particular hero Delta coach Mark Detweiler did the exact same thing when asked about the Eagles' performance More Local Hoops: IHSAA basketball: Monroe Central holds off Daleville to win its first regional in 15 years "This is probably the most nameless group I've had," Detweiler said and I just love them because they've just got so much grit and trust in each other." Delta entered the matchup as the underdog to Blackhawk Christian one of the top programs in Indiana over the past few seasons with a 1A state title (2019) and a pair of 2A state titles (2021 and 2023) The Eagles don't have a player near that size and Pickett's presence was felt immediately when he pinned a block against the backboard on Delta's first possession That block set the tone for what would be a defense-heavy affair. In fact, it was the lowest-scoring game of the eight Class 3A regionals. Delta was down for the entire first half but never surrendered a significant run and kept it within one possession the Eagles went on the game's first big run with a quick pair of threes by junior Lucas Bragg and senior Cooper Bratton Both guards had been held scoreless in the first half but came up big in the second to put Delta up 37-30 heading into the final 10 minutes In the fourth, Delta's senior forward duo of Jordan Furney and Bronson Edwards was not put off by the size mismatch with Pickett The duo worked together to hold Pickett to just four fourth-quarter points and 11 total Neither one was afraid to take the ball right at him despite the likelihood of getting swatted which — to Pickett's credit — happened more than a few times but we got the two best players on the floor,'" Detweiler said as Furney finished with 12 points and Edwards led the Eagles with 19 the most important of those coming in the game's final seconds The Blackhawks had clawed back and tied the game at 43 knocking down a triple with 20 seconds left flying by and then elevating for what would be the game-winning layup The Braves were able to get off an attempt at a game-winning triple but it bounced harmlessly off the back iron to give Delta its third straight regional title but to go three-peat for regional is even crazier it's a really special moment," Edwards said Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10 Please note - This event is now sold out and there is no wait list.  Jeffe Distinguished Lecture in Urban History The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S which recently won the National Book Award for Nonfiction Blackhawk is the author and co-editor of four books in Native American and Indigenous history including Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the early American West His articles and review essays have appeared in the New York Times Book Review and The American Indian Culture and Research Journal and dumpster diver dedicated to anti-racist anti-colonialist democratic participatory storytelling Tchen's work focuses on opening up archives and classroom spaces to the stories and realities of those who have been excluded and deemed “unfit” in master narratives The  Robert A. and Elizabeth R. Jeffe Distinguished Lectures in Urban History invites leading observers from disciplines including history, sociology, the arts, and architecture to examine New York City's ongoing evolution. Past speakers include authors Qian Julie Wang, Dr. Jeffrey C. Stewart, Colson Whitehead, Dr. Jill Jonnes, and John Turturro.  Event Logistics: This program is made possible by Robert A. and Elizabeth R. Jeffe. Get the latest on events, upcoming exhibitions, and more. Oakland Catholic’s Josie Fontana (left), Zephaniah Troxler-Scott (center) and Makayla Canty (right) celebrate with the championship trophy after defeating Blackhawk during the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Oakland Catholic’s Zephaniah Troxler-Scott (right) attempts a shot over Blackhawk’s Andrea Kinger (center) and Aubree Hupp (left) during the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Blackhawk’s Aubree Hupp (center) hauls in a rebound over Oakland Catholic’s Savanna Daye (left) and Madi Pullen (right) during the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. in the Class 4A finals Saturday at Petersen Events Center taking home their seventh WPIAL title and first since 2006 The Cougars trailed 39-32 halfway through the third quarter Blackhawk battled back and took the lead early in the fourth quarter This led to a tense fourth quarter which featured six lead changes and five ties The Eagles broke a 46-46 tie at the charity stripe and Zephaniah Troxler-Scott made a contested layup to go up 50-46 a Blackhawk 3-pointer from Olivia Rabick and a Mia Sheesley free throw tied it up Blackhawk’s Aubree Hupp drove to the hole and made the shot but a controversial charge call gave Oakland Catholic the ball This led to Alayla Bivins coming around a screen and downing a layup to go up 52-50 with 6.1 seconds left to play The Eagles forced a stop on a deep 3 from Andrea Kinger that was wide right at the buzzer “We were talking about our goals at the beginning of the year,” Eagles coach Henry Schecter said Last time Oakland Catholic won a championship was ‘06 I get the most joy when I see them jumping up and down having a great time celebrating with each other.” Oakland Catholic lost the lead for the first time in the game in the fourth quarter Blackhawk continued to make plays to keep it close Schecter had confidence that the Eagles were going to prevail “I really never doubted that we would be able to pull it out,” Schecter said “We hate to see them going around on a run and getting some confidence but it was just a matter of stepping up and making a big play Whether it’s (Bivins) going for the game winner or dishing it to Josie (Fontana) or Madi (Pullen) taking the charge …we had a lot of players willing to step up and make a big play.” The Eagles were spearheaded by London Creach She missed the end of last season and a portion of this season with an ACL injury she made the comeback and capped it off with a WPIAL title “I feel like last year we were guaranteed to win,” Creach said Pullen added 11 points and Bivins notched 10 points and six rebounds Troxler-Scott tallied eight points and four assists Bivins commented on the complete team effort “Effort goes from the first person on the floor to the last person on the bench,” Bivins said Even the people whose stats may not be the largest everybody’s a great teammate on the floor Off the floor is a team effort — everybody from the manager to just everybody that invests into this.” was happy to win it all with this group of girls “It’s been great,” Fontana said “Everyone that’s here now has invested a lot of time and effort into being the best they can.” Oakland Catholic’s six previous titles came from 1999-2002 under coach Suzie McConnell Serio and in 2005-2006 under coach Rich Irr Hupp tallied a game-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds Kinger tallied 10 points and five rebounds This was Blackhawk’s fourth straight WPIAL title appearance with a WPIAL title win in 2022 and three consecutive losses “This group just won’t quit,” Blackhawk coach Greg Huston said “We played some tough games this year We went down to Maryland and played a really good team in Southern Garrett We’ve had several games like that this year but this team’s never going to give up the Cougars went into the PIAA playoffs after a WPIAL loss and won the state title He sees the commitment and has no doubts they will rebound from the loss they come over and they’re just saying nobody was going to stop,’” Huston said “The fight in this group is something special.” Schecter loved the compete level from his players “These kids compete so hard,” Schecter said “Every kid on the team competes for so long in practice and in games and we got great people on the coaching staff who are all in it for the right reasons If Javascript is disabled browser, to place orders please visit the page where our photos are available to purchase PITTSBURGH — For the third straight season Blackhawk (23-3) found itself on the losing end of the WPIAL girls Class 4A championship game as it fell to Oakland Catholic (23-3) 52-50 Saturday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center With the game tied with less than 15 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, junior forward Aubree Hupp drove to the hoop looking to go up for a layup to give Blackhawk the lead Hupp made contact with an Oakland Catholic defender which the referee deemed a charge and fouled out of the game Oakland Catholic guard Alayna Bivins drove down the floor and converted the game-winning layup Required Reading: What did Blackhawk's Greg Huston say after a late foul call gave Oakland Catholic possession? who has yet to win a WPIAL title in her career after coming up short twice against North Catholic and now this season against Oakland Catholic falling a third straight season was a tough pill to swallow “This loss was very difficult and emotional,” Hupp said “I wasn’t on the team when the seniors won the title their freshman year and I don’t have a gold WPIAL medal so I finally wanted to win one Coming and playing here three times and losing More: WPIAL Basketball Championships: Comprehensive Coverage from the title games While Blackhawk came out on the losing end the team continued to show fight even though it was down by a substantial margin Blackhawk clawed back from a nine-point second-quarter deficit to tie the game with around 90 seconds to play in the game “I am proud of this group,” Blackhawk head coach Greg Huston said “There were several moments where the game could have gotten away from us but every time that it happened They handled themselves well in tough situations and gave us a chance to win late in the game We gave it everything we had in the 25 games leading up to tonight Oakland Catholic’s talented guards of Robert Morris commit London Creach and Bivins have been two of the key pieces to the team’s roster this season Outside of the game-winning shot by Bivins Blackhawk held the duo of guards in check to a combined 22 points “We have great defenders on this team,” Huston said “Mia Sheesley did a great job on London Creach Ava Pagani got injured and couldn’t play in the second half which hurt because she is one of our top defenders but Andrea Kinger stepped up and so did Alivia Rabick I thought we did great with the Oakland Catholic guards because we talked about how athletic they were and how they got to the hoop Everything that they got today I felt like they earned.” Blackhawk will turn to the state playoffs as it will look to defend its PIAA Class 4A title when it takes on the winner of District 10’s consolation game between Franklin and Slippery Rock in the first round Army is close to finalizing the design of a new helicopter intended to replace the iconic Black Hawk and it's built to fly nearly twice as fast and twice as far the new aircraft—known as the V-280 Valor—is part of the Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program which allows it to take off vertically like a helicopter and cruise like a plane It's expected to reach speeds of over 280 knots (about 320 mph) and cover up to 400 nautical miles far beyond the capabilities of the UH-60 Black Hawk it will eventually replace The Army selected Bell's design in late 2022 after a competitive demonstration phase in which both Bell and a team from Sikorsky and Boeing built and flew prototypes Since then, the Army has been working closely with Bell to complete the design phase According to Lieutenant General Wally Rugen the Army's deputy chief of staff for aviation the design is expected to be finalized by this summer Bell will then begin building flight test vehicles with test flights planned to begin in fiscal year 2026 the Army's project manager for the program said Bell's use of digital engineering tools has allowed the Army to follow the aircraft's development in real-time—something not possible in past programs That level of access has helped speed up the process which is a key goal for the Army as it looks to modernize its aviation fleet The new aircraft is designed to carry out the same kinds of missions as the Black Hawk—transporting troops and equipment into combat zones—but with greater range The Army plans to begin fielding the Valor by 2030 as part of a broader strategy to modernize its vertical lift capabilities continue to work on other advanced aircraft under the Army's aviation modernization plans This marks one of the Army's most significant helicopter development efforts in decades—and a major step toward reshaping how it operates in future conflicts the head of Army aviation told The Associated Press on Tuesday Investigators are still determining why the Army helicopter and the American Airlines jet collided near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29 but the Federal Aviation Administration has data showing an alarming number of close calls around the airport short for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast has become a flashpoint as some have pointed to the likely lack of use by the Black Hawk helicopter that night as a potential cause of the crash DC helicopter route permanently closed after fatal Black Hawk crashThe move follows federal investigators's call for a ban on helo flights on the route citing a string of near misses in recent years.By John Seewer APThe ADSB-out part of the system is designed to help air traffic controllers and nearby planes better track an aircraft’s location with position updates every second But it can also allow anyone — including a plane enthusiast on the ground — know precisely where a helicopter or airplane is located Army helicopters in the past have turned off the system for many missions because they were deemed sensitive said there now will be fewer flights with the ADSB-out data turned off the Army has halted the vast majority of flights it was conducting for general officers ranked three stars and above to ferry them from the Pentagon’s helipad to regional locations It has only resumed limited flights for the defense secretary deputy defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff while a limited number of other senior military leaders can fly from Virginia’s Fort Belvoir The Army’s 12th Battalion is one of 28 agencies that used the low-altitude helicopter routes around Ronald Reagan National Airport state and federal law enforcement agencies the Army was exempt from broadcasting ADSB-out data during sensitive missions according to an August 2024 memo obtained by the AP Those missions could include ferrying a senior leader or training for an emergency where transmitting a landing location could expose sensitive tactical information on reaction plans but is making changes to how it flies so the exemption won’t be used as often In past training and evaluation flights — such as on the night of the crash — crews combined normal flight routes with practice landings at sensitive locations That meant they had to fly with ADSB-out switched off for the whole flight Now crews are separating normal training and evaluation flights from flights that rehearse the classified continuity of government mission That reduces the number of flights where ADSB-out data will be turned off “If they are not going to one of those sensitive locations it should 100% be on,” Braman said It’s assumed the three Army crew who were killed in the crash were flying with ADSB-out turned off but crash investigators have not concluded that yet pulls in location data from nearby planes and helicopters The Army has now authorized the purchase of 1,600 ADSB-in systems for its helicopter fleet the Black Hawk’s transponder was in use and transmitting its position The FAA says ADSB-out data is more precise than the radar data communicated by a transponder the Black Hawk was transmitting in three transponder modes — A C and S — which combined gave the helicopter’s identity “There was no question where that aircraft was,” Braman said There was “no point” during the flight where the jet and the airport control tower could not see the Black Hawk “I think there’s still a perception out there — I know there is — that the aircraft with ADBS-out in that segment around DCA were invisible And that is so far from the truth,” Braman said the FAA has permanently closed a route along the Potomac River that directly intersected the flight path for the runway where January’s collision took place Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group HAMPTON TOWNSHIP — Blackhawk and North Catholic girls basketball are no strangers to each other having faced off several times in the past two years during the WPIAL and PIAA postseason While Blackhawk got the best of North Catholic the last time the pair met in the PIAA playoffs in 2022-23 it was North Catholic that had Blackhawk's number Saturday winning 51-44 marking the end of Blackhawk's PIAA Class 4A title defense Blackhawk came out strong offensively in the second quarter extending its lead to 12 points with around five minutes to play in the half The team looked to be in control of the game with the offense coming in bunches as Mia Sheesley knocked down two triples while also converting an and one the team was held scoreless as North Catholic cut the lead down to a five-point deficit at the break “When we missed the layup when we were leading by 12 points it was a momentum swing and they [North Catholic] took advantage of it,” Blackhawk head coach Greg Huston said “They made a couple of shots to close the half and that is what good teams do they took advantage of our mistakes and made us pay for it.” Blackhawk found success knocking down the outside shot and was converting in the paint which allowed the team to grow its second-quarter lead those opportunities for points dried up as North Catholic locked down on the defensive end holding Blackhawk to just one shot from long range and four total shots from the field “I don’t think anything changed from us from an offensive perspective,” Huston said “We missed some easy ones and the three-point shot wasn’t falling Give North Catholic credit because they did a nice job defending us plugging the paint up and when they do that With the outside shots not falling, Blackhawk turned to forward Aubree Hupp as it worked the ball in the paint during the second half the junior recorded 16 points in the final two quarters to finish with 23 points going 11-for-15 from the charity stripe “Aubree has stepped up all year long and she did a great job at attacking the hoop,” Huston said “They didn’t have much of an answer other than to foul her We needed shots to fall there and had an opportunity to tie late but that's how the game goes sometimes.” Blackhawk’s season comes to an end after another strong year winning a section title advancing to the WPIAL championship game and making it to the PIAA quarterfinals for the fourth straight season Mark Kinger was an average parent watching his daughter and Kinger has a much different seat at the stadium to watch his daughter in her senior lacrosse season He has taken over as the program’s interim head coach for the 2025 season after longtime head coach Kevin White resigned Kinger grew up playing basketball and also coached the sport when he got older he learned the sport through watching his daughter who played since she was in the fourth grade But after taking the role as interim head coach “This experience has been eye-opening,” Kinger said “I thought that I had a good grasp on lacrosse from watching my daughter play I quickly realized that there was a lot that I still needed to learn I have learned a lot and understand the intricacies of the sport a lot better.” More: Accessing local journalism is even easier with the Beaver County Times app White built the program from the ground up since its inception But when he resigned from the position on Sept Blackhawk entered uncharted waters and looking for his replacement turned into a difficult task After advertising the job across various platforms and struggling to find applicants Kinger stepped up to the plate and applied to serve as the team’s interim head coach and was approved by the school board on Feb “The season was completely unexpected for me,” Kinger said “I was not expecting to be in this position but it has been a great ride so far I am learning along with the girls as we go they have made huge strides from the first game to now and that is in part due to the assistant coaches around me.” Those assistant coaches have played a major role in righting the ship for Blackhawk as it brought back former players of the program along with former members of White’s staff More: 2025 Beaver Valley high school baseball and softball standings Both Lara Houk and Mike de Jesus each served as assistants under White during his tenure GigGi Piocquidio and Bria Braddock also served as assistants and had the opportunity to play for Blackhawk during the pair’s high school careers Having those coaches alongside Kinger has made the transition from fan to coach much easier “It is huge to have former players that played for Blackhawk around me,” Kinger said “I would have never volunteered if I didn’t have this type of support around me like I do and the girls are blessed to have these assistants around them.” who serves as Westminster College’s women’s lacrosse head coach sometimes has conflicts and can’t make it to some practices and games The same can be said for the rest of the staff and the players have also taken the changes in the past year in stride 'We are all we got and all that we need,'” Piocquidio said and they have been understanding of the situation that we are all in and are playing for each other.” Required Reading: Former Robert Morris lacrosse defender bringing her love for game to Moon as head coach Many teams in this situation might get drawn into all of the changes and get off to a slow start to begin the year But Blackhawk has fought through all of the outside noise and continued to keep the same level of consistency as it did under its former head coach going 3-1 in the section to begin the season Kinger knows that if it can continue to grow and compete in a tough section it can turn some heads come the end of the year “This group of upperclassmen are winners,” Kinger said and the upperclassmen will bring the underclassmen along with them if we can continue to fight our way through it and make it into the playoffs A new report about the American Airlines crash found that the crew aboard the Army helicopter was not suffering from any impairment The Army has identified two of the three soldiers killed in Wednesday's crash outside a busy Washington The three-person crew was on board a Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people and Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Loyd Eaves The third crew member on the helicopter was a female pilot with 500 hours of flying experience official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation The Army is withholding the pilot's name at the request of her family The withholding of a name in instances like this is a highly unusual move The identity of the third crew member has already drawn intense scrutiny online Misinformation on social media falsely claims she was a transgender pilot from the Virginia National Guard named Jo Ellis Ellis has posted a "proof of life" video on Facebook denouncing the rumors and offering condolences to those killed in the crash herself a decorated former Black Hawk pilot told NPR she understood why the family declined to make their loved-one's name public " We should be respecting the family's wishes at a time when they have suffered an unbelievable loss," Duckworth said "I think it is a perfectly legitimate request the family would make And I'm glad that the Army is honoring that request." Duckworth condemned the online speculation about the third member of the crew and especially President Trump's musings that the Army crew was to blame or was affected by diversity "Every one of those troops that was in that aircraft earned their place there and they are the most highly trained military aviators in the world," Duckworth said "And I am just sick to my stomach that we would have a president who would say such things about the heroic men and women who serve every single day." Despite President Trump saying the pilots of the Army helicopter bore responsibility for the crash Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the crew was "fairly experienced" and carrying out a "required annual night evaluation There remain, however, many unanswered questions about the flight pattern of the Black Hawk helicopter and the exact nature of the training exercise it was on at the time of the crash "Initial indications suggest this may have been a checkride or periodic evaluation by an experienced instructor pilot of a less experienced pilot," said Brad Bowman a military analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former Black Hawk pilot creates some unique dynamics in the cockpit the less experienced pilot can be nervous and eager to not make mistakes while the instructor pilot is watching to see how the other pilot responds to different developments," Bowman explained "Sometimes an instructor pilot will test the less experienced aviator to see how they respond but such a technique would have been unusual and inadvisable in that location given the reduced margin for error." now believed to be Chief Warrant Officer Eaves Officials also tell NPR that the Black Hawk was supposed to be flying at a maximum of 200 feet though sources say it was flying at least 100 feet higher All requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the investigation On Thursday the National Transportation Safety Board says it recovered what are commonly called "black boxes" from the plane — the cockpit voice and flight data recorders Federal safety investigators believe the Black Hawk helicopter also had its own recording devices which they hope will help provide more clues on the cause of the crash Brad Bowman is of no relation to NPR's Tom Bowman Command an Autonomous Black Hawk Helicopter from 300 Miles Away How do you command a Black Hawk® helicopter to perform a mission autonomously from 300 miles (480 km) away by using a tablet connected to the aircraft via datalink During the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., (Association of the United States Army 2024), visitors and U.S. Army senior leaders saw how a Black Hawk helicopter integrated with Sikorsky's MATRIX™ autonomy system can receive remote mission commands in real-time The MATRIX system is unique because it's not a simple flight director following a planned route reacting to the dynamic combat environment to avoid threats and execute emergency procedures if necessary Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems President Stephanie Hill — a non-pilot — commanded the autonomous Black Hawk helicopter to take off and land in Connecticut from a tablet during the AUSA symposium in Washington the aircraft flew and navigated itself without pilot input Following more than ten years of co-development with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) the MATRIX autonomy system is operationally tested MATRIX will enable contested logistics and operational flexibility with any aircraft and in any weather/environment to deliver mission critical time sensitive sustainment to the point of need DARPA Taps Sikorsky to Add Autonomy to U.S. Army-Owned Black Hawk Helicopter Sikorsky has furthered the development of the MATRIX autonomy system to perform missions with greater efficiency and safety – whether with two pilots MATRIX equipped aircraft provide mission command and fully autonomous capability at the edge Cast your votes for the 2025 DefenseScoop 50 — voting is open through April 18 The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Sikorsky a $6 million contract to integrate an autonomous flight system onto the Army’s UH-60M Black Hawk to experiment with AI-enabled operations The Lockheed Martin-subsidiary will add its MATRIX autonomy system onto the upgraded helicopter allowing the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) to test and mature a range of autonomous flight capabilities — from solo-pilot ops to fully unmanned flight “Autonomy-enabled aircraft will reduce pilot workload and give battle commanders the flexibility to perform complex missions in contested and congested battlespace day or night in all weather conditions,” Rich Benton Sikorsky vice president and general manager “Soldiers will rely on Black Hawk helicopters into the 2070s and modernizing the aircraft today will pay dividends for decades across Army Aviation’s current and future aircraft.” As the Army modernizes its aviation fleet under its future vertical lift portfolio, leaders have been keen on integrating autonomy and artificial intelligence where they can That includes introducing new drones — such as the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) and smaller “launched effects” — as well as looking at ways manned platforms can carry autonomous flight capabilities Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy is the foundation of the companies work on DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation system (ALIAS) program removable system that introduces AI-enabled flight into existing aircraft while reducing cognitive loads on pilots the company demonstrated the first-ever flight of a UH-60A “optionally piloted” Black Hawk without any crew onboard in 2022 The upgraded MX Black Hawk will be almost exactly like Sikorsky’s UH-60A fly-by-wire Black Hawk The new contract will enable DEVCOM to experiment and mature applications of autonomous flight and develop concepts of operations around scalable autonomy “Evaluation will include assessment of different sensor suites to perceive and avoid threats and develop standards and system specifications interfaced with the MATRIX system and a fly-by-wire flight control system,” per the press release Just over three months ago, we saw a tragic accident at Washington National Airport (DCA) where a Black Hawk helicopter crashed into an American Eagle CRJ-700 we saw yet another close call at the airport as a Black Hawk helicopter got too close to traffic at the airport It’s pretty clear that this airspace needs a serious redesign because this is (yet another) accident waiting to happen two commercial jets on approach to DCA had to perform last minute go arounds as a Black Hawk helicopter went off course the closest distance between one of the jets and the helicopter was 0.4 miles horizontally and just 200 feet vertically just as was the case with the fatal accident back in late January DAMNING NEW INFO on Thursday near misses involving two DCA flights and an Army Black Hawk. FAA says helo “did not proceed directly to the Pentagon” and instead “took a scenic route around.” Closest distance to Republic 5825 was “0.4 miles and 200 feet.”This involved *the very… pic.twitter.com/ZFT2RCDybE both aircraft landed at the airport around 10 minutes later the helicopter “did not proceed directly to the Pentagon Heliport instead it took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport.” what actually happened here is a bit more nuanced and a VASAviation video does a great job explaining that The initial statement made it sound like the Black Hawk helicopter was just taking a scenic route for giggles this exposes an additional problem with the airspace near the airport The Black Hawk was landing at the Pentagon and the DCA air traffic controller told the helicopter to hold until there was a gap in traffic at DCA that would allow it to proceed Eventually the air traffic controller gave the Black Hawk pilots permission to proceed only for the Black Hawk pilot to then be told to hold by the Pentagon Heliport controller This hold is way too close to DCA’s operational area so you essentially have two controllers not coordinating with one another and there needs to be more coordination between the airport controller and the heliport controller But I suspect that the heliport controller is military and isn’t interested in coordinating with the airport controller One thing is for sure — something needs to change here US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is outraged about this close call calling the incident “unacceptable,” and stating that helicopter restrictions are “crystal clear.” Duffy says he’ll talk to the Department of Defense to “ask why the hell our rules were disregarded.” He concludes by suggesting that “no more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians,” and to “take a taxi or Uber – besides most VIPs have black car service.” Okay, it’s a bit of an odd take, because these incidents seem to involve training flights, so it’s not a VIP situation, or something that could be replaced with Uber. That being said, I completely agree with his ire It’s sickening to see such disregard for the safety of civilians there needs to be more coordination between commercial flights and military operations This culture of “the military does whatever the heck it wants around DCA airspace” needs to stop A Black Hawk helicopter has once again caused issues in the airspace around DCA as two aircraft on final approach had to perform go arounds at the last minute The helicopter reportedly had a minimum distance of 0.4 miles horizontally and just 200 feet vertically This is the same time type of helicopter involved in the fatal accident in late January and the Transportation Secretary is understandably angry Based on the initial air traffic control audio it seems the issue is that the helicopter was given clearance to proceed to the Pentagon Heliport only for the Pentagon to then not give the Black Hawk clearance to land The fact that this very basic level of coordination doesn’t happen sure makes you scratch your head… What do you make of this Black Hawk DCA helicopter go around situation Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" DCA needs to be shut down or these helicopter "training" flights need to stop When the ATC ask the black hawk pilot “ landing assured” I assume that is making sure that a space is available at the Pentagon helipad The pilot I don’t think answered in the affirmative the first time asked and then did the second time after they landed The incompetence of the American military is astounding Aren't they the originators of the concept of "friendly fire" Each time I see a "home of the free because of the brave" I cringe and want to throw up a bit So go move to Afghanistan or something and be as you are could you try not talking down to everyone here for just 1 day? If they would just name the vip then we won't have this problem for at least a few years People don't stop doing things anymore because it's the right thing to do It's the only effective solution for our current generation of vain self important population I live in California and don't have a dog in this fight it's no different than EWR -- to paraphrase Mayor LaGuardia But I'd much rather fly into DCA than IAD but it's fine if I'm connecting (e.g.) SFO-IAD-CDG Pilots need to focus ALL of the time -- even when on autopilot -- but they need heightened flying in and out of places like DCA Unless we are going to move EVERY airport out to the middle of a cornfield.. Preliminary reports point to a military helicopter on a training flight not following the rules and flightpaths laid down by FAA The pilot being trained as well as the senior pilot both need to be reprimanded and sent down for further ground school instruction on who controls the airspace in peace time I mean you still need to take Metro into the District or drive over the bridge I get what you’re saying; it’s practically DC 8 min Lyft ride from my house in DC this morning…I’m sitting there right now actually with an AA MX delay Blame the Republicans for this because there was less trouble before the Reagan name Who was the 'big shot' that wanted to 'look around' on that helicopter I wonder if Sean Duffy can get good ol' Pete Hegseth to stop drinking and sober up long enough - and stop worrying about servicemembers' genitals - to actually do something but I applaud Sean's words on social media The military pilots know they can't be publicly named and shamed We can only hope that internal accountability exists Can't make the disciplinary process for these helicopter macho men public because "National Security" Which of us feels more "secure" about DCA (or anywhere else the armed forces operate) in these circumstances A simple fix would be for NTSB to have the same authority over near misses.. We can only hope that internal accountability exists Can't make the disciplinary process for these helicopter macho men public because "National Security" Which of us feels more "secure" about DCA (or anywhere else the armed forces operate) in these circumstances A simple fix would be for NTSB to have the same authority over near misses like this including public access to all aspects of the investigation If the public exposure compromises the careers of a couple cowboys there's a positive tradeoff: the chilling effect for other cowboys You think Israel would release names and give public access to investigations But do you thing the 'good guys' would do it You can get a medal for shooting down an civilian airliner What on earth does Israel have to do with this shutting down DCA is probably the the one thing that might stir the compliant in Congress to rise up The main reason DCA continues and expands in the number and range of its flights is that the members of Congress prefer it to the hour's shlep to IAD IAD does have a direct metro connection to downtown now so it isn't too inconvenient anymore and the airport itself has plenty of growing room DCA on the other hand is overly congested and has no space to grow I'm honestly surprised it was allowed to get bigger and didn't slowly get phased out in favor of IAD and BWI following 9/11 just out of security and safety reasons It's a lot like Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong an airport built during the infancy of the city it's in when air travel was far younger and had far less demand and the cities around the airports have all grown to the point that the airport can no longer efficiently or safely operate You're saying your time is more important than the lives lost in the January collision and the safety of future passengers if DCA stays open Plenty of other people in major cities survive hour plus trips to their airport And should they close your airport of choice Should they have closed CDG when Concorde crashed on take off Imagine if people like you had called for the closing of Pittsburgh airport when USAir crashed in 1994 Steps can be put in place to make operations safe Live closer to IAD and stop with the entitlement hypocrisy People in Ashburn feels the same way with DCA @Justin dev That's a whole load of apples and oranges that don't support your argument Neither CDG nor PIT are anywhere near as close to the cities they serve as DCA: 14 and 12 miles respectively from the city centers whereas the foot of DCA's runway 19 is in a nearly direct line 2.5 miles from the White House and the Pentagon under a mile from the foot of runway 15 DCA is FAR closer to sensitive government and military installations This both means much higher risk of those installations being hit if a plane goes down for any reason and much higher risk (as we've seen) of collisions due to the low altitude congestion in that area they wouldn't close ATL because ATL isn't in spitting distance of the US government and ATL's approaches don't conflict with craploads of helo traffic It already takes me an hour to get there anyway Remember how DCA was closed for nearly a month after 9/11 long after every other airport had resumed operation And the FAA has already implemented rules that DCA traffic must halt whenever POTUS is coming or going on Marine One The argument is silly and a non-starter to address this issue If they had started phasing it out post-9/11 you wouldn't be complaining and everyone would have adjusted to the "new normal" by now plenty of airports far more convenient to the cities they serve have been shut down due to lack of space to grow limiting their capacity as the city continues to grow DCA has both that AND sensitive national government buildings to contend with Military helicopter activity has gotten out of control So we are going to shut it down…close the airport…make the planes go back to where they came from.” All of this while allowing and not even Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments to short DCA and buy IAD call options IAD and DCA are both "owned" by MWAA - Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Let the wild comments and speculation begin…got my popcorn I used to come here for travel news…lately I think I come here for the comments among the top reason for any fatal disasters Can’t you read the pilot was given conflicting orders by two different controllers Military and commuter airline pilots are poor and less qualified Your feedback is important in helping us keep our community safe The comments on this page have not been provided approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered I wonder if Sean Duffy can get good ol' Pete Hegseth to stop drinking and sober up long enough - and stop worrying about servicemembers' genitals - to actually do something but I applaud Sean's words on social media If they would just name the vip then we won't have this problem for at least a few years People don't stop doing things anymore because it's the right thing to do It's the only effective solution for our current generation of vain self important population You have successfully joined our subscriber list Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. See more about our ethics policies here MONTREAL -- Ivan Demidov had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut but the Montreal Canadiens failed to clinch their first Stanley Cup Playoff berth since 2021 with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at Bell Centre on Monday Game highlights as Chicago takes down Montreal in shootout win entry-level contract on April 8 after completing his season with SKA St Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League “I feel that the fans love me and it’s cool Juraj Slafkovsky tied it late in the third period for Montreal (39-31-11), which has lost three in a row (0-1-2). Sam Montembeault made 22 saves “They come in, they want to not let us clinch our spot and they bring their best game,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said The Canadiens lead the Columbus Blue Jackets by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference Montreal will play its regular-season finale against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday it’s still a big point and we’re going to keep going,” Canadiens coach Martin St Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist in regulation before scoring the only goal of the shootout for Chicago (24-46-11), which is 3-1-1 in its past five games. Arvid Soderblom made 18 saves “They needed to win this game to secure a playoff spot so you know that they’re going to come out hard,” Nazar said so we just prepared and had a routine going into the game Alex Newhook put Montreal up 1-0 at 6:00 of the first period. Demidov skated down the left boards, got around Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy along the goal line and sent a pass out front to Newhook who scored on a one-timer from the low slot Demidov then made it 2-0 at 13:32. Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson’s stretch pass was tipped down the ice by Joel Armia but Demidov chased down the loose puck off the end boards and faked a slap shot at the left post before pulling it to his backhand for a tap-in past Soderblom's left pad in Canadiens history to score in his NHL debut CHI@MTL: Demidov tallies first NHL goal in debut Tyler Bertuzzi got Chicago to within 2-1 at 18:40 of the first He scored a power-play goal with a wrist shot past Montembeault's blocker from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Nazar Nazar tied it 2-2 at 16:41 of the second period with his own power-play goal a one-timer again past Montembeault’s blocker from the top of the left circle Lukas Reichel gave Chicago a 3-2 lead at 5:39 of the third period. He got behind the defense, took a lead pass from Landon Slaggert and scored with a shot that trickled under Montembeault on a breakaway Slafkovsky tied it 3-3 at 17:03 with a power-play goal. Cole Caufield's one-timer from the bottom of the right circle hit Slafkovsky's skate and the right post before deflecting in off the back of Soderblom's skate “I’m proud of our guys,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said To get them to score one late and come back and find a way to get the win in the shootout Blackhawk’s Alivia Rabick (15), Mia Sheesley (22) and Ava Pagani (31) celebrate following a victory over Elizabeth Forward in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at North Allegheny. Blackhawk’s Mia Sheesley (left) scores on a layup past Elizabeth Forward’s Kaelynn Settles (right) in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at North Allegheny. Blackhawk’s Grace Huston (right) pokes the ball away from Elizabeth Forward’s Kaylin Stazack (left) in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at North Allegheny. Blackhawk’s Aubree Hupp (20) attempts a shot over Elizabeth Forward’s Mia Sostaric in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at North Allegheny. Coming off a state championship last season Lebanon and Shady Side Academy this season Lebanon is playing for a chance at its WPIAL title Tuesday Shady Side Academy has already booked its ticket to the Petersen Events Center and Blackhawk did the same Monday evening with a 57-51 win In the WPIAL championship game for the second straight season The Cougars (23-2) will be seeking a district title after losing 40-37 to North Catholic in overtime last season “We know that Oakland (Catholic) is a good team,” Blackhawk coach Greg Huston said “They’ve had a good program for years and they have a bunch of good players as well but we feel good about the squad that we’re bringing into the game and I just think it’s going to be a really good game.” it would have been reasonable to predict the Cougars would mercy rule the Warriors Blackhawk jumped out to a 24-5 advantage and built up as much as a 24-point lead early in the second quarter as it seemed to be over 4 Elizabeth Forward (19-6) never wavered as its deficit actually loosened the Warriors up and took the pressure off them even while playing without leading scorer Michelle Jellison who received two technical fouls in the quarterfinal win over Beaver “Obviously it was frustrating for us in the second half in particular,” Huston said “Give Mia Sostaric a lot of credit for knocking all those shots down We were frustrated with how we handled some of the traps and things like that we made enough winning plays to pull it out.” who ended up with a game-high 25 points on seven 3-pointers teamed up with Kaelynn Settles to lead a furious comeback from EF 10-steal triple-double that perfectly summed up her tenacious work ethic “(Mia) has been playing with a ton of confidence lately,” Elizabeth Forward coach Noah Yartin said but her confidence is through the roof now “Kaelynn Settles was a beast on the glass as always Her hustle and her defense are relentless.” Blackhawk’s Aubree Hupp and Mia Sheesley got their team off to its strong start and they ended up as the leading scorers for the Cougars particularly in the first half as she posted 17 of her 22 points in the opening two quarters Sheesley finished with 11 more points in the win The two joined with Ava Pagani to score the first eight points of the contest before Chloe Zombek got the Warriors on the board with a layup Sheesley knocked down two straight triples before one 3 from EF’s Kaylin Staszak brought the score to 14-5 Blackhawk rattled off 10 more unanswered points to end the quarter and extended it to a 12-0 run with the first points of the second as Hupp had nine of those points and Andrea Kinger nailed a shot from downtown Settles finally got the Warriors back on the scoresheet with a free throw but it got even worse with four more points from Blackhawk to make it 30-6 in their favor About five minutes remained in the first half at that point but right when it seemed that Elizabeth Forward was completely down and out the Warriors emerged from their brutal start Settles and Sostaric poured in every point during a 12-4 run that brought EF’s halftime deficit to 34-18 Settles and Hupp opened the third with layups but the Warriors then went on another rally with eight straight points all courtesy of Sostaric and Settles but the Cougars struck back with a triple from Sheesley and a layup from Alivia Rabick responding with two triples as she started to catch fire from deep-range Her second make made the score 41-34 before Blackhawk again got two layups to preserve its lead Settles and Sostatic came up with five more points at the end of the quarter to bring the score to 45-39 but Pagani ended the third with two layups to once again make the winning plays that Huston mentioned Sostaric drilled another shot from deep range to put pressure on the Cougars but they responded to it with a 3 of their own two straight steals and easy layups for the Warriors cut their deficit down to 54-48 as they opted for a timeout with 2:43 left to play Elizabeth Forward fell just short of a comeback and instead will face No 3 North Catholic in an important consolation game in terms of state playoff seeding “We gotta come back and respond well,” Yartin said “We have a big third-place game for home-court (advantage) in states we’ll stay at home rather than having to travel to Erie they’ll be hoping to adjust to a different matchup in Oakland Catholic “Oakland (Catholic) is such a different team (than Elizabeth Forward),” Huston said so it’s a little bit different in the middle you know you’re playing the best of the best so we’re gonna bring everything we’ve got and let the chips fall where they may.” The Chicago Blackhawks coaching search has already taken some twists and turns, and there haven’t been any reports of an interview yet. On Saturday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that University of Denver head coach David Carle removed his name from consideration for the job General manager Kyle Davidson made an aggressive push where he’s running one of the top college programs in the country Today, a new name has been added to the coaching search as the Pittsburgh Penguins relieved Mike Sullivan of his duties The two-time Stanley Cup winner should be at the top of Davidson’s list of candidates The writing has been on the wall in Pittsburgh for quite a while Sullivan was nearing the end of his contract and general manager Kyle Dubas is looking to take the Penguins in a younger direction I’ve been saying Sullivan is the ideal next head coach of the Blackhawks since Luke Richardson was fired in December The Blackhawks need a presence in their locker room They need a coach who has been through it all—someone who has won in the NHL before They haven’t had that since Joel Quenneville was fired in 2018 Sullivan has the most wins in Penguins’ franchise history and won two Stanley Cups He’s spent the last decade coaching Hall of Famers like Sidney Crosby Sullivan has a connection with the Blackhawks He spent the 2014-15 season as a player development coach with the team before joining the Penguins organization it’s not as easy as just picking up the phone and giving him the job and Seattle Kraken are also looking for new coaches The Rangers and Bruins are the immediate favorites to land Sullivan so it will be a hard sell for Davidson to get him to come to Chicago New York and Boston are in win-now mode despite missing the playoffs That is likely more appealing to him than coming to a team that is still some time away from returning to the postseason Sullivan also has a connection with both organizations The Rangers drafted him in the fourth round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft he was an assistant coach in New York under John Tortorella the Bruins are the hands-down winner when it comes to connections and played college hockey at Boston University He coached the Providence Bruins in 2002-03 before becoming Boston’s head coach in 2003 He was fired after his second season when Peter Chiarelli took over as general manager Bruins’ star defenseman Charlie McAvoy is his son-in-law None of these things rule out the Blackhawks; they make things more difficult and likely add more money to their offer Sullivan saw the Blackhawks in back-to-back games in April when they played their best hockey of the season He got a firsthand look at the youth movement and the future in Chicago Morning Chirps: Soderblom Heading to Worlds