---
title: "An Ammo Box Fell From A Black Hawk And Crashed Through The Roof Of A Texas School"
date: "2018-05-18"
modified: "2018-05-18"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/ammo-box-roof-texas-school/"
categories:
  - "Aircraft"
  - "Army"
  - "Around the World"
  - "Helicopters"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "News"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "United States"
tags:
  - "Northern Command"
---

# An Ammo Box Fell From A Black Hawk And Crashed Through The Roof Of A Texas School

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/02/18988445-1.jpg>)

A box of ammunition fell from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and crashed through the roof of Parkland Elementary School in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday afternoon[,](<https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/05/18/ammo-falls-military-chopper-crashes-texas-school/>) landing in the middle of a classroom, the Associated Press [reports](<https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/05/18/ammo-falls-military-chopper-crashes-texas-school/>).

- **No one was injured**: Luckily, the classroom was empty when the incident occurred around 3:45 p.m., NBC News [reports](<https://twitter.com/kchirbas/status/997313242484625409>), well after students were released for the day. The ammo box did, however, cause enough damage to [knock out power](<https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/05/18/us/ap-us-ammo-hits-school.html>) in part of the building.

https://twitter.com/kchirbas/status/997313242484625409

- **The unit involved**: Army Col. Jay Hopkins, the [relatively new](<https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/military/ft-bliss/2017/08/03/new-aviation-brigade-leader-says-being-bliss-just-feels-right/517609001/>) commander of the 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade, took responsibility in a statement, saying he was sorry "for the damage and grateful no one was hurt," [per the Associated Press.](<https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/05/18/us/ap-us-ammo-hits-school.html>)
- **More importantly: What ammo is that?** You sad, sad bastards. The general armament on Army Black Hawks includes two M60D 7.62mm machine guns on M144 mounts. To my untrained eye, this *sort of* looks like .50 caliber belt-fed rounds for the FNH M3M/GAU-21 machine gun, which might make sense since some Black Hawks have [touted](<https://www.military.com/equipment/uh-60a-l-black-hawk>) .50 cal GAU-19/A Gatling guns in the past. The photo of the ammo can doesn't specify, but it does appear to include misfire instructions. I welcome your guesses and ridicule.
- **Not the worst drop this year:** Relax, Col. Hopkins! At the end of February, a Canadian Armed Forces Griffon search-and-rescue helicopter returning to a U.S. Coast Guard station in Florida following a training exercise [basically bombed](<https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/02/28/canadian-air-force-drops-inflatable-raft-through-florida-homes-roof-1-person-injured.html>) a random house in Miami with an uninflated life raft. So things could have been a *lot* worse.

The news is still deeply uncomfortable, especially [considering](<https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-santa-fe-school-shooting-20180518-story.html>) that at least 10 people were killed amid another hail of bullets at a Texas high school shooting on Friday morning.

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/jaredbkeller>)  
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[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredbkeller/>)  
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