The helicopter on the day of the crash, with its new water tank and snorkel.
The pilots of the Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk made six uneventful passes in front of the operator’s hangar to test the helicopter’s new fire tank system before their seventh and final pass, when the water tank snorkel made “large and slightly erratic oscillations†and struck the main rotor blades, sending the helicopter crashing to the ground.
The two pilots and two crewmembers were killed in the May 25, 2021, accident near Leesburg (Florida, U.S.) International Airport, and the helicopter was destroyed by the crash and subsequent fire.
In its final report on the accident, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the probable cause was “the failure of the water tank snorkel support structure, which allowed the snorkel to contact the main rotor blades.†The report cited as a contributing factor the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s)  
