For many, the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, like the one involved in the Wednesday collision over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., is familiar for one reason: the 2001 movie "Black Hawk Down ," based on the 1993 shooting down of U.S. Black Hawk helicopters during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.

A Black Hawk helicopter can transport up to "12 fully equipped, seated troops in combat," according to Lockheed Martin, the weapons company that builds the helicopter. There are about 5,000 of these helicopters in use by the United States Military.