Fatal crashes prompt U.S. senator to question Black Hawk safety By Dan Parsons | February 9, 2021 Estimated reading time 7 minutes, 42 seconds. Two recent Black Hawk helicopter crashes that killed six Army National Guard soldiers have reawakened concerns in Congress that systemic safety issues in U.S. military aviation are causing unnecessary non-combat casualties. On Jan. 19, three New York Guard aviators died when their UH-60 Black Hawk medevac helicopter went down just south of Lake Ontario near the city of Rochester. Two weeks later, three Idaho National Guard soldiers died when their UH-60 crashed in rugged, mountainous terrain near the state capital of Boise.