The Black Hawk military helicopter involved in Wednesday’s midair collision was training to evacuate government officials in the case of a catastrophic event when it crashed into an American Airlines regional passenger plane – creating a catastrophe of its own.

Sixty-four people aboard a commercial airliner died Wednesday after it collided with a military helicopter midair near Reagan Washington National Airport. Both the American Eagle jet and Army Black Hawk are in the Potomac River.

The Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet in Washington on Wednesday was on a training flight along a route core to a seldom-discussed military mission to evacuate senior officials to safety in the event of an attack on the U.

A total of 67 people are presumed dead after a regional American Airlines operated by PSA Airlines, collided with an Army helicopter in midair on Wednesday night when it was about to land at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.