‘Continuity of Government’: Mission of Downed Black Hawk Just Revealed

Search efforts are still underway recovering victims of last night’s disastrous air collision in Washington DC.

Questions still remain, and likely will for some time regarding what led to this incident.

But as the investigation progressed, bits of information have started to come more clearly in to focus.

One bit of information revealed by the new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was that the purpose of the Black Hawk’s flight had to do with “continuity of government”.

That phrase alone immediately lit up the radar for a lot of people concerned that there may be something nefarious afoot — because, isn’t that usually the case?

Here’s the clip of Hegseth’s update earlier today:

Pete Hegseth says the Military Chopper was on a “Continuity of Government Mission”

Those are some very specific words… let’s break it down.

• Continuity of Government involves procedures and plans to ensure that government functions can continue in the event of a major… pic.twitter.com/mELFbRNRlr

— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) January 30, 2025

I have to admit, even before Hegseth uttered those words I have been watching for any tell-tale sign that there’s more than meets the eye to this crash.

As soon as I heard that phrase, “continuity of government”, my own alarm bells went off and I started asking all the questions:

1. Was there an ongoing threat that we weren’t being told about?
2. Is there STILL an ongoing threat?
3. Was the Black Hawk (which apparently pinged near CIA Headquarters just before the incident) carrying someone important?
4. Was the Black Hawk on the way to PICK UP someone in order to take them to a safe location — again, because of some threat?

I still have a lot of questions, and I haven’t dismissed anything as possible at this point.

After all, this is 2025, President Trump is back in the White House, and the fight is only just ramping up to take our nation back — WHO KNOWS how things will play out in the near future?

But here’s what we do know.

Technically, there isn’t anything nefarious about Hegseth’s reference to “continuity of government”.

In fact, his statement is very technically worded and precise.

He stated that it was a “routine annual retraining of night flights on a standard corridor for a ‘continuity of government’ mission.”

He didn’t actually say they were on a ‘continuity of government’ mission; he said they were on an annual TRAINING flight for that type of mission.

Here’s some detail on that from the local CBS affiliate in DC, WUSA9:

The military helicopter that collided with American Airlines flight 5342 was practicing a continuity of government mission, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

ADVERTISEMENT

Wednesday night, the helicopter was being flown as a part of a “routine annual retraining of night flights on a standard corridor,” Hegseth said, when it hit the passenger jet, leading both the aircrafts to crash into the Potomac River.

But what is a continuity of government mission?

According to the White House website, continuity of government refers to the plan in place to keep the government up and running in case of a major catastrophe or attack on Washington, D.C. As a part of the national continuity plan, every federal government agency is required to have a strategy for a mass evacuation and relocation from the national capital region.

Helicopters are a part of the evacuation plan for top congressional leaders, according to the website.

The flight Wednesday was a standard retraining, officials said.

Let me be clear — I’m not in the habit of trusting “authorities”, or “officials”, or anyone who works for the government who is attempting to convince me that there’s no hidden story.

That said, the plausibility of the training mission for a ‘continuity of government’ mission checks out.  It really is a normal thing.  It’s “routine”, as Hegseth put it, in the sense that it happens all the time.

But quite honestly, that only makes me question this scenario even more.

Given, I’m sure you’ve all seen the reports about how dangerous that airspace is.  Just the day before, another plane reportedly had to abort landing to avoid a helicopter in exactly that sort of situation, and there were two other reported near-misses at Reagan International since March of last year:

There were THREE near misses at Reagan National since March 2023. pic.twitter.com/daIVdJ9JaR

— Clyp Keeper (@DGrayTexas45) January 31, 2025

It is a situation that is almost asking for a disaster, and there probably needs to be some work done to create a little more separation between the constant helicopter flights through the area sharing the airspace directly adjacent to the airfield at Reagan International.

But… there are other problems, too; questions that need to be answered.

One such question was raised by Cedric Leighton, a retired US Air Force Colonel who spoke to the BBC:

Speaking to CNN, Cedric Leighton – a retired US Air Force colonel – said it was normal for that type of military aircraft to be training at night in the area, particularly to make sure pilots are proficient with using instruments needed to fly in the dark.

He said one of the unit’s duties is to transport high-ranking personnel around the capital – though none were on board at the time of the crash as it was a training flight.

The unit’s pilots are expected to be proficient at flying in DC’s busy airspace and “train in order to avoid incidents like this”, he added.

“Whether it’s training for new systems or equipment, we need to know what systems the pilot had turned on in the helicopter and whether they had all the safety systems on board, or whether they were trying a new procedure or new route.”

That is one of the questions that should be answered, considering the reports that the Black Hawk was flying mostly “dark”.

While it did have external lights flashing, it did not apparently have its transponder system turned on which would have allowed other aircraft awareness of the Black Hawk’s presence without visual confirmation.

🚨 #BREAKING: The military Blackhawk that crashed into an American Airlines flight in Washington, DC was reportedly “FLYING DARK,” per ADSBexchange

The chopper was NOT broadcasting an ADSB signal at the time.

It has just been found submerged in the Potomac River, and first… pic.twitter.com/Ei74STsV1T

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 30, 2025

If you’ll notice the Community Note at the bottom of that post, it points out that the helo wasn’t technically “flying dark”.

Not only did it have external lights flashing, but it was apparently broadcasting, though on an older system, but my understanding is that it would not have been as readily seen by other aircraft by electronic means which were operating on the newest technology — though the tower would have had electronic tracking ability.

Another issue with what we know so far is the helicopter’s altitude readings.

According to a former NTSB investigator Greg Feith, the Black Hawk was almost 200 feet higher than they should have been, putting them directly in the flight path of the descending airliners headed towards Reagan International.

Feith questioned why such experienced and disciplined pilots would have been flying over their 200 foot restricted ceiling, according to a story by CNN:

The altitude of the US Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in the collision was nearly 200 feet off, said Greg Feith, a former National Transportation Safety Board investigator.

“Why were the military pilots almost 200 feet off the restricted altitude? The ceiling on those routes is 200 feet. And if they had been at 200 feet, they would have passed underneath the [regional jet] because the [regional jet] was at about 400 feet,” Feith told CNN’s Jim Sciutto Thursday night.

Why the military pilots were operating at about 300 feet could be part of the NTSB’s investigation into the collision, Feith said, citing radar data for information on the helicopter’s altitude.

“Why were they off their altitude, given the fact that they are very disciplined?” Feith asked. “They knew the routes, their experience, so that of course is going to be an issue.”

That information, coupled with the fact that the pilot of the Black Hawk requested freedom to use their own eyes to avoid the American Airlines flight — which they confirmed they could see — really creates more questions than answers.

What were they seeing if not the passenger plane they impacted?

Also of note was the fact that one of the “doomsday planes”, an E-4B Command & Control aircraft, flew in to the area — and was headed towards Andrews Air Force Base (where it landed) before the collision happened.

🚨#BREAKING! DOOMSDAY Plane is heading to the area of the BLACKHAWK and Plane Crash at the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport
WHAT is going on?! 🤯🤯🤯

The E-4B is designed to be a survivable command, control, and communications center, particularly in scenarios… pic.twitter.com/JcktLuiQOF

— In2ThinAir (@In2ThinAir) January 30, 2025

I personally watched in real time on the Flight Radar app as this plane came in and landed, and stayed on radar for a long time while on the tarmac — indicating it kept engines running.

These planes are actually in the air quite constantly.  There is always at least one flying around somewhere at any given time, just in case.

So it truly could be considered coincidence.  But… it certainly caught my attention, particularly since it flew right to Andrews AFB just down the road from the White House and the crash site.

While much, if not all of this, is circumstantial, I must confess — I am not satisfied that something was going on here that we have not been told about; and I hate to characterize it as anything more than that.

It certainly is a strange set of events, knowing what we know, even considering the fact that the helicopter and planes often cross paths in that location.

This is certainly still a developing situation, and we will bring you updates as more information becomes available.