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Garley Building fire

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93-500: The Garley Building fire took place on 20 November 1996 in the 16-storey Garley commercial building ( Chinese : 嘉利大廈 ) located at 232–240 Nathan Road , Jordan, Hong Kong . The fire caused 41 deaths and 81 injuries. It is considered the worst building fire in Hong Kong during peacetime. The fire damaged the bottom two floors and the top three floors of the building, while the middle floors remained relatively intact. The building

186-460: A modular design (reduced maintenance footprint); run-dry gearboxes ; ballistically tolerant , redundant subsystems (hydraulic, electrical and flight controls ); crashworthy crew ( armored ) and troop seats; dual-stage oleo main landing gear ; ballistically tolerant, crashworthy main structure; quieter, more robust main and tail rotor systems; and a ballistically tolerant , crashworthy fuel system . Four prototypes were constructed, with

279-566: A UH-60 during the March 2024 western Russia incursion , claiming it was a "troop transport" carrying 20 troops into combat. However, it was revealed to be a Mil Mi-8 instead. The UH-60 entered service with the U.S. Army's 101st Combat Aviation Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division in June 1979. The U.S. military first used the UH-60 in combat during the invasion of Grenada in 1983, and again in

372-509: A certain extent in South Korea , remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters . Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from

465-461: A goal to order approximately 32 helicopters. In February 2015, the U.S. State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of nine UH-60Ms with associated equipment and support to Slovakia and sent it to Congress for its approval. In April 2015, Slovakia's government approved the procurement of nine UH-60Ms along with training and support. In September 2015, Slovakia ordered four UH-60Ms. The first two UH-60Ms were delivered in June 2017;

558-536: A long, low profile shape to meet the Army's requirement for transporting aboard a C-130 Hercules , with some disassembly. It can carry 11 troops with equipment, lift 2,600 pounds (1,200 kg) of cargo internally or 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) of cargo (for UH-60L/M) externally by sling. The Black Hawk helicopter series can perform a wide array of missions, including the tactical transport of troops, electronic warfare, and aeromedical evacuation. A VIP version known as

651-668: A militarized gunship version of the UH-60, with stub wings, locally known as Arpía (English: Harpy ). The Colombian Army became the first worldwide operator of the S-70i with Terrain Awareness and Warning Capability (HTAWS) after taking delivery of the first two units on 13 August 2013. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) received 10 surplus UH-60A Black Hawks from the United States in August 1994. Named Yanshuf (English: Owl ) by

744-411: A mobile phone). Over 200 firemen and 40 engines were deployed. Because the fire has engulfed the top floors and the bottom floors, anyone in the building who either didn't have immediate access to the ground floor exit or the roof, or were immediately engulfed in the initial flames were trapped in the middle floors of the building relying on firefighters rescuing them from the windows via the ladders from

837-613: A standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages . In Taiwan , the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters . These forms were predominant in written Chinese until the middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of

930-680: A unit cost of $ 10.2 million. The UH-60 Black Hawk is in service with 35 different countries as of 2024. Australia bought early model UH-60 in the 1980s, and is buying a fleet of newer versions ones in the 2020s: Australia ordered fourteen S-70A-9 Black Hawks in 1986 and an additional twenty-five Black Hawks in 1987. The first US-produced Black Hawk was delivered in 1987 to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). de Havilland Australia produced thirty-eight Black Hawks under license from Sikorsky in Australia delivering

1023-486: A video showing them operating at least two UH-60s painted in Ukrainian colors. The helicopters appeared to have minimal modifications, namely the addition of two M240 7.62 mm machine guns for defensive purposes. It was confirmed that at least one of these was purchased by a third party, Ace Aeronautics, following a Czech crowdfunding effort that raised US$ 6 million. On 17 March 2024, Russia claimed to have shot down

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1116-812: Is 産 (also the accepted form in Japan and Korea), while in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan the accepted form is 產 (also the accepted form in Vietnamese chữ Nôm ). The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers;

1209-605: Is equipped with advanced avionics and electronics for increased survivability and capability, such as the Global Positioning System . The UH-60 can be equipped with stub wings at the top of the fuselage to carry fuel tanks or various armaments. The initial stub wing system is called External Stores Support System (ESSS). It has two pylons on each wing to carry two 230 US gal (870 L) and two 450 US gal (1,700 L) tanks in total. The four fuel tanks and associated lines and valves form

1302-909: Is the UH-60M. In the late 1960s, the United States Army began forming requirements for a helicopter to replace the UH-1 Iroquois , and designated the program as the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS). The Army also initiated the development of a new, common turbine engine for its helicopters that would become the General Electric T700 . Based on experience in Vietnam, the Army required significant performance, survivability and reliability improvements from both UTTAS and

1395-493: The Chinese Commercial News , World News , and United Daily News all use traditional characters, as do some Hong Kong–based magazines such as Yazhou Zhoukan . The Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified characters. DVDs are usually subtitled using traditional characters, influenced by media from Taiwan as well as by the two countries sharing the same DVD region , 3. With most having immigrated to

1488-653: The Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia. Black Hawks also saw action in the Balkans and Haiti in the 1990s. U.S. Army UH-60s and other helicopters conducted many air assaults and other support missions during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The UH-60 has continued to serve in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq . Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine (OAM) uses the UH-60 in its operations specifically along

1581-873: The Brazilian Army peacekeeping forces. It received six UH-60Ls configured for special forces, and search and rescue uses in 2008. It ordered ten more UH-60Ls in 2009; deliveries began in March 2011. In July 2024, the MoD authorized the purchase of 12 additional UH-60Ms, in a US$ 451 million plan. In December 1983, examples of the Aerospatiale AS-332 Super Puma , Bell 214ST SuperTransport and Sikorsky S-70A-5 (N3124B) were airlifted to Lhasa for testing. These demonstrations included take-offs and landings at altitudes to 17,000 feet (5,200 m) and en route operations to 24,000 feet (7,300 m). At

1674-699: The Kensiu language . UH-60 Black Hawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft . Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army 's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) competition in 1972. The Army designated the prototype as the YUH-60A and selected the Black Hawk as

1767-606: The Philippine Air Force the largest user of S-70i Blackhawk Helicopters globally. In January 2019, Poland ordered four S-70i Black Hawks with four delivered to the Polish Special Forces in December of that same year. Another four S-70i helicopters are on order with two scheduled for delivery in 2023 and two in 2024. In July 2023, Poland launched a procurement tender for S-70i Black Hawks with

1860-573: The Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF / TUDB) ordered twelve S-70i helicopters, which are similar to the UH-60M; four aircraft had been received by December 2013. In June 2012, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress that Qatar requested the purchase of twelve UH-60Ms, engines, and associated equipment. The Royal Brunei Air Force had earlier bought four UH-60, but these were later sold to Malaysia. In May 2014, Croatian Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović announced

1953-640: The Shanghainese -language character U+20C8E 𠲎 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-20C8E —a composition of 伐 with the ⼝   'MOUTH' radical—used instead of the Standard Chinese 嗎 ; 吗 . Typefaces often use the initialism TC to signify the use of traditional Chinese characters, as well as SC for simplified Chinese characters . In addition, the Noto, Italy family of typefaces, for example, also provides separate fonts for

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2046-1099: The Slovak Air Force had received all nine UH-60Ms by January 2020. These are to replace its old Soviet Mil Mi-17s . In 2020, the Slovak minister of defense announced Slovakia's interest in buying two more UH-60Ms. Slovak Training Academy (European Air Services / Heli Company) from Košice , a private company, operates some older UH-60As & Bs for pilot training, aerial fire fighting and sky crane operations. Sweden requested 15 UH-60M helicopters by Foreign Military Sale in September 2010. The UH-60Ms were ordered in May 2011, and deliveries began in January 2012. In March 2013, Swedish ISAF forces began using Black Hawks in Afghanistan for MEDEVAC purposes. The UH-60Ms have been fully operational since 2017. Sweden designates it

2139-733: The U.S. Navy , Air Force , and Coast Guard . In addition to U.S. Army use, the UH-60 family has been exported to several nations. Black Hawks have served in combat during conflicts in Grenada , Panama , Iraq , Somalia , Ukraine , the Balkans , Afghanistan , and other areas in the Middle East . Major variants include the Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk used for naval purposes, Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk for combat search and rescue, with other upgrades for various export, VIP, and special operation variants. The latest utility variant

2232-512: The invasion of Panama in 1989. During the Gulf War in 1991, the UH-60 participated in the largest air assault mission in U.S. Army history with over 300 helicopters involved. Two UH-60s (89-26214 and 78–23015) were shot down, both on 27 February 1991, while performing Combat Search and Rescue of other downed aircrews, an F-16C pilot and the crew of a MEDEVAC UH-1H that were shot down earlier that day. In 1993, Black Hawks featured prominently in

2325-399: The 15th floor had 22 bodies. DNA testing became imperative for victim identification. Some of the bodies were so severely burnt, that they melted into the floor and walls leaving only a silhouette shape of the victim in the exact position upon their death only identifiable by the items in their possession before their death, such as jewelry they were wearing or objects they were holding (e.g.:

2418-591: The 15th floor, increased its relief fund to $ 8+ million. Each victim's family received an initial $ 180,000 and another sum equivalent to 17.8 months' basic salary. As a result of the aftermath of the fire, the regulations on buildings and fire safety was amended in June 1998, requiring the installation of fire sprinkers in high rise buildings, and in April 2001, a special rescue team was formed to be able to better respond to these large scale disasters. The Discovery Channel Canada series Blueprint for Disaster documented

2511-630: The 1988 Olympics, there was no such thing as a glass cockpit with an LCD monitor. Currently, the majority of South Korea's UH-60s belong to the Army, including more than 30 units operated by the Special Operations Aviation Corps. Taiwan (Republic of China) operated S-70C-1/1A after the Republic of China Air Force received ten S-70C-1A and four S-70C-1 Bluehawk helicopters in June 1986 for Search and Rescue. Four more S-70C-6s were received in April 1998. The ROC Navy received

2604-437: The 5th floor when he mistakenly stepped into an open elevator shaft. Another person died several months later, never recovering from a coma resulting from the fire. Another 80 people were injured, including 14 firemen. Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten urged legislators to speed up the passage of a bill aimed at upgrading the fire safety standards of some 500 premises across the territory. A special police team of 229 officers

2697-484: The Black Hawk have been studied as far back as the mid-1970s. In September 2012, Sikorsky was awarded a Combat Tempered Platform Demonstration (CTPD) contract to further improve the Black Hawk's durability and survivability. The company is to develop new technologies such as a zero-vibration system, adaptive flight control laws, advanced fire management, a more durable main rotor, full-spectrum crashworthiness, and damage-tolerant airframe; then they are to transition them to

2790-517: The Helicopter 16 (Hkp 16). In June 2024, Sweden ordered 12 more UH-60Ms from the US. The Republic of Korea Armed Forces is also an operator and has produced about 130 aircraft under license from Korean Air since the 1990s and domestically producing and introducing the UH-60 simulator. However, the cockpit is analog compared to the digital one in the United States, but since this business started after

2883-712: The IAF, the UH-60A began replacing Bell 212 utility helicopters. The IAF first used the UH-60s in combat during 1996 in southern Lebanon in Operation Grapes of Wrath against Hezbollah . The Mexican Air Force ordered its first two UH-60Ls in 1991 to transport special forces units, and another four in 1994. In July and August 2009, the Federal Police used UH-60s in attacks on drug traffickers. In August 2011,

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2976-537: The Mexican Navy received three upgraded and navalized UH-60M. On 21 April 2014, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 18 UH-60Ms to Mexico pending approval from Congress. In September 2014, Sikorsky received a $ 203.6 million (~$ 258 million in 2023) firm-fixed-price contract modification for the 18 UH-60s designated for the Mexican Air Force. 2 S-70-A5 VIP helicopters purchased 1983 and

3069-550: The PAF. On 10 December 2020, the PAF commissioned their first batch of six S-70i Blackhawks, with the remaining 10 to be delivered in 2021. In June 2021, the air service received a second batch of five helicopters. In November 2021, the third batch of five arrived. On 22 February 2022, DND and PZL Mielec formally signed the US$ 624 million contract for 32 additional S-70i Black Hawks, totalling to around 48 units ordered. This will make

3162-555: The People's Republic of China, traditional Chinese characters are standardised according to the Table of Comparison between Standard, Traditional and Variant Chinese Characters . Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. There are differences between the accepted traditional forms in mainland China and elsewhere, for example the accepted traditional form of 产 in mainland China

3255-579: The SH-60B's automatic flight control system (AFCS) for better flight control with more powerful engines. Production of the L-model began in 1989. Development of the next improved variant, the UH-60M, was approved in 2001, to extend the service life of the UH-60 design into the 2020s. The UH-60M incorporates upgraded T700-GE-701D engines, improved rotor blades, and state-of-the-art electronic instrumentation, flight controls and aircraft navigation control. After

3348-551: The State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Croatia for 8 UH-60M helicopters and related equipment and services for an estimated cost of $ 500 million. The U.S. government has provided $ 139.4 million in financial assistance for 51 percent of the funding, as a compensation for the Croatian donation of 14 Mi-8 helicopters to Ukraine. The remaining sum is be provided by Croatia's Ministry of Defence in

3441-552: The U.S. DoD approved low-rate initial production of the new variant, manufacturing began in 2006, with the first of 22 new UH-60Ms delivered in July 2006. After an initial operational evaluation, the Army approved full-rate production and a five-year contract for 1,227 helicopters in December 2007. By March 2009, 100 UH-60M helicopters had been delivered to the Army. In November 2014, the US military ordered 102 aircraft of various H-60 types, worth $ 1.3 billion. Following their use in

3534-530: The U.S. government has not confirmed Chinese access. The U.S. Army has signalled its intent to eventually replace the UH-60, launching the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program in 2019, with a new helicopter planned to enter service by 2030. Bell and a joint Sikorsky- Boeing team both entered competing designs. In December 2022 it was announced that the winning design was Bell’s tilt-rotor V-280 Valor , with

3627-662: The UH-60 during NATO deployments to Afghanistan and the Balkans. The UH-60 has also been used in counter-terror/internal security operations. The Black Hawk competed against the AgustaWestland AW149 in the Turkish General Use Helicopter Tender, to order up to 115 helicopters and produce many of them indigenously, with Turkish Aerospace Industries responsible for final integration and assembly. On 21 April 2011, Turkey announced

3720-564: The UH-60 for production in December 1976. Deliveries of the UH-60A to the Army began in October 1978 and the helicopter entered service in June 1979. After entering service, the helicopter was modified for new missions and roles, including mine laying and medical evacuation. An EH-60 variant was developed to conduct electronic warfare and special operations aviation developed the MH-60 variant to support its missions. Due to weight increases from

3813-669: The US Army awarding an initial contract to develop a prototype by 2025. This award does not guarantee the eventual adoption of the V-280, which would require further contracts. As an Army program, the outcome of FLRAA will not necessarily affect UH-60 variants in service with other branches of the U.S. military. The United Arab Emirates requested 14 UH-60M helicopters and associated equipment in September 2008, through Foreign Military Sale . It had received 20 UH-60Ls by November 2010. Bahrain ordered nine UH-60Ms in 2007. In December 2011,

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3906-524: The United States during the second half of the 19th century, Chinese Americans have long used traditional characters. When not providing both, US public notices and signs in Chinese are generally written in traditional characters, more often than in simplified characters. In the past, traditional Chinese was most often encoded on computers using the Big5 standard, which favored traditional characters. However,

3999-512: The VH-60N is used to transport important government officials (e.g., Congress, Executive departments) with the helicopter's call sign of " Marine One " when transporting the President of the United States . In air assault operations, it can move a squad of 11 combat troops or reposition a 105 mm M119 howitzer with 30 rounds ammunition and a four-man crew in a single lift. The Black Hawk

4092-487: The accounting room (which was a big open area in the middle of the floor) rushed to open the windows. The rush of oxygen from the opening of the windows resulted in a backdraft causing the fire to rush through the halls smashing through the glass entrance doors and engulfing the entire floor in flames along with any employees who were still inside. Charred human remains were found on the 13th and 14th floors. A workshop run by Chow Sang Sang Jewellery that occupied two rooms on

4185-553: The addition of mission equipment and other changes, the Army ordered the improved UH-60L in 1987. The new model incorporated all of the modifications made to the UH-60A fleet as standard design features. The UH-60L also featured more power and lifting capability with upgraded T700-GE-701C engines and an improved gearbox, both from the SH-60B Seahawk . Its external lift capacity increased by 1,000 lb (450 kg) up to 9,000 lb (4,100 kg). The UH-60L also incorporated

4278-468: The airdropped items would be damaged upon hitting the ground. Started in 2011, the ESBS sought to standardize the airdrop resupply method and keep up to 90 percent of supplies intact. The system includes a hands-free reusable linear brake and expendable speed line and a multipurpose cargo bag. When the bag is deployed, the brake applies friction to the rope, slowing it down enough to keep the bag oriented down on

4371-426: The bamboo scaffolding and the open elevator shaft provided a source of fresh air, creating a chimney effect that eventually rose to the 13th floor, starting another fire there. The fire was temporarily relegated to the elevator shaft but the smoke and heat from the fire hitting the roof all accumulated on the upper levels of the building concentrating at the top floors. Some fire safety procedures were violated, such as

4464-512: The beginning of negotiations for the purchase of 15 used Black Hawks. In October 2018, the US via Ambassador Robert Kohorst announced donation of two UH-60M helicopters with associated equipment and crew training to Croatia's Ministry of Defence, to be delivered in 2020. In October 2019, the US State Dept approved the sale of two new UH-60M Blackhawks. In February 2022, the first two helicopters were delivered to Croatia. In January 2024,

4557-407: The blame for this incident fell on the welders and occupants, who were not properly trained in fire drills and knew little about building evacuation procedures. Investigations concluded that cut metal cut from the welding machine fell down the elevator shaft which landed on combustible construction materials gathered on the bottom floor which caused the fire. Based on a welding machine recovered after

4650-490: The elevator shaft for the welders . The welding activity routinely triggered alarms from the building's smoke detectors , so much so that staff at the China Arts & Crafts store that occupied the bottom three floors had wrapped plastic around the fire alarms to muffle the sound. Furthermore, workers were found to have cut metal with a welder, contrary to building codes. Thus, when a stray piece of hot metal fell from

4743-751: The end of this testing, the People's Liberation Army purchased 24 S-70C-2s, equipped with more powerful GE T700-701A engines for improved high-altitude performance. While designated as civil variants of the S-70 for export purposes, they are operated by the People's Liberation Army Aviation units. Colombia first received UH-60s from the United States in 1987. The Colombian National Police , Colombian Aerospace Force , and Colombian Army use UH-60s to transport troops and supplies to places which are difficult to access by land for counter-insurgency (COIN) operations against drug and guerrilla organizations, for search and rescue, and for medical evacuation. Colombia also operates

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4836-538: The events of the fire and subsequent investigation, labeling it the Hong Kong Inferno . The Garley Building was abandoned after the fire, but was not demolished until 2003. The reason was that part of the procedure required to start the demolition process of the building requires the approval of all the owners in the rented units of the building. At the time of the fire, there were five different units rented out however all five owners of those units perished in

4929-450: The external extended range fuel system (ERFS). U.S. Army UH-60s have had their ESSS modified into the crashworthy external fuel system (CEFS) configuration, replacing the older tanks with up to four total 200 US gal (760 L) crashworthy tanks along with self-sealing fuel lines. The ESSS can also carry 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) of armament such as rockets, missiles and gun pods. The ESSS entered service in 1986. However, it

5022-529: The fire on the bottom floor, the welding machine was set to the highest setting violating safety regulations which explained how the cut metals and sparks from the welding machine retained enough heat despite falling ten stories. As a result of the fire, building regulations were quickly revised to prevent this sort of disaster from occurring again. Since the revisions, there has not been a single year in which more than ten people have died from fires. The Chow Sang Sang Jewellery Company , which lost 22 employees on

5115-415: The fire while calling for help from one of the windows of on 14th floor and the footage was broadcast live on the news. A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was also deployed to rescue people trapped on the roof, but quickly left after rescuing four people as it was feared that the rotating helicopter blades were making the fire worse. The role of the helicopter was later studied. With the elevators unusable and

5208-402: The fire. The legal procedure in such a situation would be that the original landlord of the building needs to wait for a certain time period before he or she can apply for a forced sale of the building. That process ended up taking seven years, and so in 2003, the original landlord of the building, China Resources Enterprise applied for forced sale of the building and that same year, the building

5301-437: The firedoors being left open allowing thick smoke to fill the hallways of the top floors, especially the 15th floor ( Chow Sang Sang 's unit). In the case of Chow Sang Sang's 15th floor unit, many of the fire resistant office entrance doors were replaced with glass doors which can easily shatter from extreme heat. With employees caught off guard as they got engulfed in thick smoke, many of them panicked. Desperate for air, many in

5394-429: The firetrucks. To add to the problem, the firetruck ladders at the time only reach up to the 8th floor and were not able to rescue the people on the upper floors. As a result of the limited number of firetrucks as well as the limited range on the height of the ladders on the trucks, many of the people trapped were engulfed by the flames waving for help by the windows. One of these people were caught on film being engulfed by

5487-543: The first YUH-60A flying on 17 October 1974. Prior to the delivery of the prototypes to the US Army, a preliminary evaluation was conducted in November 1975 to ensure the aircraft could be operated safely during all testing. Three of the prototypes were delivered to the Army in March 1976, for evaluation against the rival Boeing-Vertol design, the YUH-61A , and one was kept by Sikorsky for internal research. The Army selected

5580-671: The first in 1988 and the last in 1991. In 1989, the RAAF's fleet of Black Hawks was transferred to the Australian Army . The Black Hawks saw operational service in Cambodia , Papua New Guinea , Indonesia , East Timor and Pakistan . In April 2009, the then- defence chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston , told the government not to deploy Black Hawks to Afghanistan as at the time they "lacked armor and self-defense systems", and despite an upgrade to address this underway, it

5673-437: The first of ten S-70C(M)-1s in July 1990. 11 S-70C(M)-2s were received beginning April 2000. In January 2010, the US announced approval for a Foreign Military Sale of 60 UH-60Ms to Taiwan with 30 designated for the Army, 15 for the National Airborne Service Corps (including the one that crashed off Orchid Island in 2018) and 15 for the Air Force Rescue Group (including the one that crashed 2 January 2020). Turkey has operated

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5766-485: The helicopter. Improvements to the Black Hawk are to continue until the Future Vertical Lift program is ready to replace it. In December 2014, the 101st Airborne Division began testing new resupply equipment called the Enhanced Speed Bag System (ESBS). Soldiers in the field requiring quick resupply have depended on speed bags filled with items airdropped from a UH-60. However, all systems were ad hoc with bags not made to keep objects secure from impacts, so up to half of

5859-493: The inverse is equally true as well. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters. In Hong Kong and Macau , traditional characters were retained during the colonial period, while the mainland adopted simplified characters. Simplified characters are contemporaneously used to accommodate immigrants and tourists, often from

5952-445: The lower fire had started, the fire was rated at one-alarm. It was almost immediately raised to three-alarm at 4:59 p.m. when heavy smoke impeded the firefighters' progress up to the higher floors. By the time reinforcements arrived, it was upgraded to four-alarm at 5:17 p.m. because the 15th floor was on fire, and was upgraded again to five-alarm—the highest level in Hong Kong, at 7:15 p.m. on that day. The fire consumed

6045-725: The mainland. The increasing use of simplified characters has led to concern among residents regarding protecting what they see as their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters. The use of simplified characters in government documents and educational settings is discouraged by the government of Taiwan. Nevertheless, with sufficient context simplified characters are likely to be successfully read by those used to traditional characters, especially given some previous exposure. Many simplified characters were previously variants that had long been in some use, with systematic stroke simplifications used in folk handwriting since antiquity. Traditional characters were recognized as

6138-682: The majority of Chinese text in mainland China are simplified characters , there is no legislation prohibiting the use of traditional Chinese characters, and often traditional Chinese characters remain in use for stylistic and commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertising. Traditional Chinese characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promulgation of the current simplification scheme, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used for ceremonial, cultural, scholarly/academic research, and artistic/decorative purposes. In

6231-916: The merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets. Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字 ; 正体字 ; zhèngtǐzì ; 'orthodox characters'. This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters . Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字 ; 繁体字 ; fántǐzì ; 'complex characters', 老字 ; lǎozì ; 'old characters', or 全體字 ; 全体字 ; quántǐzì ; 'full characters' to distinguish them from simplified characters. Some argue that since traditional characters are often

6324-412: The new powerplant. The Army released its UTTAS request for proposals (RFP) in January 1972. The RFP also included air transport requirements. Transport within the C-130 limited the UTTAS cabin height and length. The UTTAS requirements for improved reliability , survivability and lower life-cycle costs resulted in features such as dual-engines with improved hot and high altitude performance, and

6417-556: The official script in Singapore until 1969, when the government officially adopted Simplified characters. Traditional characters still are widely used in contexts such as in baby and corporation names, advertisements, decorations, official documents and in newspapers. The Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative in Southeast Asia regarding simplification. Although major public universities teach in simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications such as

6510-607: The operation to kill Osama bin Laden in May 2011, it emerged that the 160th SOAR used a secret version of the UH-60 modified with low-observable technology which enabled it to evade Pakistani radar. Analysis of the tail section, the only remaining part of the aircraft which crashed during the operation, revealed extra blades on the tail rotor and other noise reduction measures, making the craft much quieter than conventional UH-60s. The aircraft appeared to include features like special high-tech materials, harsh angles, and flat surfaces found only in stealth jets. Low observable versions of

6603-700: The original standard forms, they should not be called 'complex'. Conversely, there is a common objection to the description of traditional characters as 'standard', due to them not being used by a large population of Chinese speakers. Additionally, as the process of Chinese character creation often made many characters more elaborate over time, there is sometimes a hesitation to characterize them as 'traditional'. Some people refer to traditional characters as 'proper characters' ( 正字 ; zhèngzì or 正寫 ; zhèngxiě ) and to simplified characters as 簡筆字 ; 简笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'simplified-stroke characters' or 減筆字 ; 减笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'reduced-stroke characters', as

6696-512: The padded base, a honeycomb and foam kit inside to dissipate energy. The ESBS better protects helicopter-dropped supplies, and allows the Black Hawk to fly higher above the ground, 100 ft (30 m) up from 10 feet, while travelling 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h), limiting exposure to ground fire. Each bag can weigh 125–200 lb (57–91 kg) and up to six can be deployed at once, dropping at 40–50 feet per second (12–15 m/s). Since supplies can be delivered more accurately and

6789-781: The predominant forms. Simplified characters as codified by the People's Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China , Malaysia, and Singapore. "Traditional" as such is a retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan , Hong Kong , and Macau , as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia. As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts . Korean hanja , still used to

6882-619: The retirement of 20 Black Hawks until 2021 to enable the Army to develop a special operations role capable MRH-90. On 10 December 2021, the S-70A-9 Black Hawks were retired from service. On the same day, amid issues with the performance of the MRH-90s the government announced that they would be replaced by UH-60M Black Hawks. In January 2023, the Army announced the acquisition of 40 UH-60Ms with deliveries commencing in 2023. Brazil received four UH-60L helicopters in 1997, for

6975-654: The selection of Sikorsky's T-70. In the course of the coup d'état attempt in Turkey on 15 July 2016, eight Turkish military personnel of various ranks landed in Greece 's northeastern city of Alexandroupolis on board a Black Hawk helicopter and claimed political asylum in Greece. The helicopter was returned to Turkey shortly thereafter. In February 2023, Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) published

7068-467: The southwest border. The Black Hawk has been used by OAM to interdict illegal entry into the U.S. Additionally, OAM regularly uses the UH-60 in search and rescue operations. Highly modified H-60s were employed during the U.S. Special Operations mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden during Operation Neptune Spear on 1 May 2011. One such MH-60 helicopter crash-landed during the operation and

7161-407: The staircases impassable due to the smoke, firefighters had difficulty reaching the upper levels of the building, relying on four rescue ladders to rescue occupants who had opened the windows for fresh air. The flame was finally put out after 20 hours. In total 41 people had died; among the deaths was a firefighter who as a result of poor visibility from the thick smoke plunged to his death falling from

7254-408: The system can be automatically released on its own, the ESBS can enable autonomous resupply from unmanned helicopters. The UH-60 features four-blade main and tail rotors, and is powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines. The main rotor is fully articulated and has elastomeric bearings in the rotor head. The tail rotor is canted and features a rigid crossbeam. The helicopter has

7347-419: The thirteenth floor, sparking a fire in the second floor lift lobby, no one paid much attention, believing that it was part of the normal welding activity. A welder discovered the fire, and alerted the fire department. A second emergency call was made one minute later, when a dental assistant on the 13th floor discovered dense smoke in the hallway. When firefighters first arrived at the scene 10 minutes after

7440-525: The three-year budget period from 2025 to 2027. The Letter of Offer and Acceptance was signed in March 2024. Delivery of all 8 Black Hawks is expected in 2028. Tunisia requested 12 armed UH-60M helicopters in July 2014 through Foreign Military Sale. In August 2014, the U.S. ambassador stated that the U.S. "will soon make available" the UH-60Ms to Tunisia. The sale of 8 helicopters was approved and helicopters were delivered 2017 and 2018. In January 2015,

7533-636: The traditional character set used in Taiwan ( TC ) and the set used in Hong Kong ( HK ). Most Chinese-language webpages now use Unicode for their text. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hant to specify webpage content written with traditional characters. In the Japanese writing system , kyujitai are traditional forms, which were simplified to create shinjitai for standardized Japanese use following World War II. Kyūjitai are mostly congruent with

7626-985: The traditional characters in Chinese, save for minor stylistic variation. Characters that are not included in the jōyō kanji list are generally recommended to be printed in their traditional forms, with a few exceptions. Additionally, there are kokuji , which are kanji wholly created in Japan, rather than originally being borrowed from China. In the Korean writing system , hanja —replaced almost entirely by hangul in South Korea and totally replaced in North Korea —are mostly identical with their traditional counterparts, save minor stylistic variations. As with Japanese, there are autochthonous hanja, known as gukja . Traditional Chinese characters are also used by non-Chinese ethnic groups. The Maniq people living in Thailand and Malaysia use Chinese characters to write

7719-518: The ubiquitous Unicode standard gives equal weight to simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and has become by far the most popular encoding for Chinese-language text. There are various input method editors (IMEs) available for the input of Chinese characters . Many characters, often dialectical variants, are encoded in Unicode but cannot be inputted using certain IMEs, with one example being

7812-722: The winner of the program in 1976, after a fly-off competition with the Boeing Vertol YUH-61 . Named after the Native American war leader Black Hawk , the UH-60A entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979, to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois as the Army's tactical transport helicopter. This was followed by the fielding of electronic warfare and special operations variants of the Black Hawk. Improved UH-60L and UH-60M utility variants have also been developed. Modified versions have also been developed for

7905-587: The words for simplified and reduced are homophonous in Standard Chinese , both pronounced as jiǎn . The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han dynasty c.  200 BCE , with the sets of forms and norms more or less stable since the Southern and Northern dynasties period c.  the 5th century . Although

7998-442: Was brought in for the first time in 10 years to help with identifying the bodies. A census was completed days after the incident and found there were 60,000 private buildings in the Hong Kong territory at the time, half of which were more than 20 years old. Of these, 723 were commercial. It was reported that more than 700 office blocks built 20-plus years earlier, when safety laws were more lenient, were potential deathtraps. Much of

8091-400: Was built in 1975 before the government introduced laws requiring all commercial buildings to install sprinkler systems . The land lot was bought by Kai Yee Investment Company Ltd in 1970 at a cost of HK$ 1.56 million (US$ 200,000). A subsidiary of China Resources , Chinese Arts & Crafts, acquired half the building –from the basement to the ninth floor –for HK$ 35.5 million in 1989. Welding

8184-490: Was delivered in 1984, this Blackhawk served the 250th PAW for more than 3 decades as a Presidential VVIP transport helicopter. Only 1 remains in service with the 505th Search and Rescue Group. In March 2019, the Philippines' Department of National Defense (DND) signed a contract worth US$ 241.4 million (~$ 284 million in 2023) with Lockheed Martin 's Polish subsidiary PZL Mielec for 16 Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawks to

8277-506: Was demolished. China Resources Enterprise, originally intended to construct a "Ginza-style" shopping mall at the site, but later changed plans to build a new office building. Work on the building was completed in 2007. Today, JD Mall on Nathan Road sits on top of the site of the former Garley Building. 22°18′17″N 114°10′18″E  /  22.304833°N 114.171723°E  / 22.304833; 114.171723 Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are

8370-517: Was destroyed by the team before it departed in the other MH-60 and a backup MH-47 Chinook with bin Laden's remains. Two MH-47s were used for the mission to refuel the two MH-60s and as backups. News media reported that the Pakistani government granted the Chinese military access to the wreckage of the crashed 'stealth' UH-60 variant in Abbottabad; Pakistan and China denied the reports, and

8463-535: Was found that the four fuel tanks obstruct the field of fire for the door guns; thus, the external tank system (ETS), carrying two fuel tanks on the stub wings, was developed. The unit cost of the H-60 models varies due to differences in specifications, equipment and quantities. For example, the unit cost of the Army's UH-60L Black Hawk is $ 5.9 million while the Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk has

8556-727: Was more practical to use allies' helicopters. In 2004, the government selected the Multi-Role Helicopter (MRH-90) Taipan, a variant of the NHIndustries NH90 , to replace the Black Hawk even though the Department of Defence had recommended the S‐70M Black Hawk. In January 2014, the Army began retiring the fleet of 34 Black Hawks from service (five had been lost in accidents) and had planned for this to be completed by June 2018. The Chief of Army delayed

8649-531: Was revealed to be the source of the fire. At the time of the fire, the Garley Building was undergoing internal renovation, during which new elevators were to be installed. One had been completely refurbished, with another almost completed; the other two elevator shafts in the building had their respective elevators removed, and had bamboo scaffolding installed within their shafts. The fire-resistant outer elevator doors were also removed to allow light into

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