January 30, 2025 - DC plane collision news

Grace Maxwell, a junior at Cedarville University.

A junior at Cedarville University was one of the passengers on the American Airlines flight involved in the deadly collision Wednesday night, according to the school.

Grace Maxwell was from Wichita, Kansas, according to Cedarville University, located in Cedarville, Ohio.

“As you can imagine, the past 24 hours have been very difficult for the Maxwell family and the Cedarville University community. As a university, we do not desire to turn this tragic event into anything more than a way to honor Grace, her family, and Jesus,” the school writes.

Emergency response units search the crash site on Thursday.

One of the flight data recorders – known as black boxes – from the doomed CRJ 700 that collided with a military helicopter on approach to Reagan National Airport has been recovered from the Potomac River, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell’s (D) office tells CNN.

It was not immediately clear which of the two black boxes has been retrieved.

In the three years before the deadly collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight near Reagan National Airport, at least two other pilots reported near-misses with helicopters while landing at the airport, a CNN review of federal incident reports found.

On two occasions, passenger planes had to take evasive action to avoid colliding with a helicopter when trying to land at the airport, according to reports filed by pilots. In a third incident, two military helicopters got too close together, an air traffic controller reported.

Those previous scares are sure to gain more attention after the disaster over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, which is presumed to have killed 64 people aboard the plane and three Army servicemembers on a helicopter training flight.

Read more about the previous incidents.

Three students and six parents of the Fairfax County Public School system in Virginia died in Wednesday’s tragic aircraft collision, Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid said in a statement.

“We are devastated by the tragic news as we learn members of our FCPS community have lost their lives in the accident last night at Reagan National Airport,” the statement on the school division’s website said.

School officials are not releasing the names of individuals due to “privacy needs and concerns for those who are directly involved.”

The air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, is seen on Thursday.

Air traffic controllers were among the millions of federal workers allowed to resign and accept a buyout package by the Trump administration, a labor union for air traffic controllers said.

On Wednesday, the White House offered workers who did not want to return to the office the option to resign by February 6 and then receive pay without working through September 30.

Air traffic controllers are in short supply, and the Federal Aviation Administration regularly faces staffing issues at its radar facilities.

In the deadly crash between an American Airlines regional jet and a helicopter on Wednesday, one controller was working two positions, though that was not considered to be uncommon.

If a significant amount of air traffic controllers were to take the buyouts, that would leave a larger gap to be filled. And it won’t be filled quickly because new controllers must be trained and certified.

It was estimated the Federal Aviation Administration needed 3,000 more air traffic controllers to meet industry demands. In 2024, the FAA hired 1,811 air traffic controllers and hired 1,500 in 2023 but netted out far fewer due to attrition.

Just before the deadly plane collision Wednesday night, 10-year-old ice skater Alexis Winch was playing a video game with her friend who was aboard the flight, her dad Jeff Winch said.

“Last night, she was sitting on the couch with her iPad, playing some video game live over the air with her friend on the plane just before the accident occurred,” he told CNN affiliate WJLA.

Winch told Alexis it was time for her to go to bed. Less than 30 minutes later, the catastrophic crash happened.

The family followed the news about the crash “until we realized that this flight was the flight from Wichita that her friends were on.” That’s when the family learned several of the young skater’s friends had died, Winch said.

“Then my wife just completely broke down, and she started calling friends and texting friends,” he said. “Some of them were at the airport, actually waiting for their their children and families to arrive.”

The 10-year-old was close friends with several of the victims who have skated together at Ashburn Ice House in Virginia for years, Winch said. The group of skaters were 10 to 14 years old, he said.

“My favorite memory of her was when we were sitting together and we were watching the Nationals, and we were watching skaters,” Alexis said of one of her friends. “And we were just like talking and having fun together.”

Another one of her friends “would always help me with some things, and she would always be there to talk to me and support me,” Alexis said.

Alexis returned to the rink Thursday for a lesson, trying to remain strong despite the losses, Winch said.

“I think she is telling herself that this is one way to deal with the emotions is just to keep pushing through,” Winch said. “She’s trying to hold it in right now, and I don’t know if she knows why she’s holding it in. On the way to school this morning, when we told her this, she got out of the car and she told my wife, ‘I don’t know how to feel. I don’t know what to do with this.’”

Other friends of the victims were at the rink “cuddled up and crying,” he said.

Some background: Several members of the figure skating community were aboard the jet, returning from a developmental camp in Wichita, US Figure Skating said. The Skating Club of Boston named six victims, including Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the 1994 world champs in pairs.

This post has been updated with additional information.

The Coast Guard investigates aircraft wreckage on the Potomac River on Thursday.

More than 40 bodies have been removed from the Potomac River as of late Thursday afternoon, multiple sources with knowledge of the recovery told CNN.

Dive operations are done for the day due to daylight, conditions on the water and a growing sense among rescuers that most of the victims that can be reached without removing the fuselage from the water have already been recovered, a law enforcement source tells CNN.

Right now, the Washington, DC, fire chief, the National Transportation Safety Board, American Airlines and other officials are meeting with victims’ families at a family assistance center, a public safety official told CNN.

Remember: The American Airlines regional jet was carrying 64 people when it collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board.

American Airlines celebrated the one-year anniversary of the direct flight from Wichita to Washington, DC, earlier this month, Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said during a news conference Thursday.

The direct flight started on January 8, 2024, she said.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks to a reporter on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp expressed condolences for two Georgians who died in the aircraft collision in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night.

O’Hara was a soldier on board the military helicopter that collided with American Airlines Flight 5342, according to CNN affiliate WSB.

He graduated from Parkview High School in Gwinnett County in 2014, WSB reported.

“Ryan is fondly remembered as a guy who would fix things around the ROTC gym as well as a vital member of the Rifle Team. Ryan leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son,” the school’s JROTC wrote in a statement obtained by WSB.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an army veteran and a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who served in Iraq, said it’s more likely the pilot flying a commercial plane would experience blind spots – not the helicopter pilot.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Duckworth said for years she routinely flew beneath commercial airliners landing at the airport.

When asked about potential blind spots while flying a Black Hawk, Duckworth said the blind spots “are going to be in the commercial airliner coming in for a landing” because they only have cockpit and side windows. “When they get close to landing, the system that prevents collisions actually pops off — it turns off — just as you’re about to land,” she continued.

Black Hawk helicopters have “very good visibility,” according to Duckworth. She then said of the commercial plane and helicopter involved in the collision: “At some point, they converge on each other and lost that lateral separation. And we need to see who drifted into whose flight path.”

Duckworth said she asked the FAA and the NTSB on Thursday specific questions about the equipment on board the Black Hawk helicopter and to provide the transcripts of air traffic control instructions exchanged between the pilots.

“I wanted to make sure that the pilots had acknowledged air traffic control, telling them to watch out for the regional jet, which they said they had,” Duckworth said.

Duckworth said she feels “utter disgust” after President Donald Trump baselessly blamed the crash on diversity initiatives in the government.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly speaks during a press conference on Thursday.

The National Transportation Safety Board and other officials are waiting for all of the families of the victims to be notified before they release any details about their identities, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said.

She said she asked the NTSB Thursday afternoon about the manifest, specifically if there were passengers from Wichita on board. A manifest is a document that lists all of the passengers and crew on a flight.

The passenger plane, which took off from Wichita Wednesday night, had 64 people on board, officials said.

“There are some folks who were on that plane who were from overseas and so that’s partially the reason for the delay,” Kelly said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

She later said there were four people from overseas on the plane. It is not clear how many families have been notified so far, Kelly said.

The governor said the NTSB expected “we’d likely have the manifest sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

An American Eagle plane takes off at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.

An Army pilot who has flown Black Hawk helicopters around Reagan National Airport in the Washington, DC, area told CNN the Army’s flights are routinely planned down to the smallest detail — which is even more important when navigating the area’s complex airspace.

By Army regulation, the pilots would have had to brief their entire flight plan within their unit before taking to the air, the pilot said. The crew would assess the plan on a series of risks — the weather, how much light are they expecting, what maneuvers do the pilots intend to do, where they will land, and more.

Based on the risk, a senior briefer — typically a senior pilot — will assess the plan and approve or disapprove parts of their flight plan; that assessment will then be run by the unit’s commander, then submitted to the FAA.

The pilot also rejected the theory that the Black Hawk didn’t have its transponder on, which has been surfacing on social media as a potential cause for the crash. There are multiple layers of things that would have to go seriously wrong for an aircraft without its transponder on to ever be inside that airspace, the pilot said, especially given post-9/11 safeguards.

When asked whether it was appropriate for President Donald Trump to blame DEI initiatives for Wednesday night’s deadly plane crash, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said the probe into system issues and causes should be left to “folks who are trained very well to do this.”

Some background: Trump on Thursday sought to blame a “diversity push” at FAA without evidence for the midair collision.

“I do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office. And here’s one, the FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing,” Trump said.

“And then it says, FAA says, people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce said they want them in… they can be air traffic controllers,” Trump said. “I don’t think so. This was January 14, so that was a week before I entered office. They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program.”

The president also said Pete Buttigieg, who was secretary of transportation in Biden’s administration, ran the Department of Transportation “into the ground with his diversity.”

Officials in Kansas are in communication with federal partners as a recovery effort and investigation into a deadly plane collision plays out, the governor said.

The passenger plane was coming from Wichita, Kansas, when it collided with an Army helicopter on its way into Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, Wednesday night.

She said all of these officials are working “as hard and as fast as they possibly can” to respond.

President Donald Trump said he would be meeting with some of the families of the victims from the collision, but didn’t say when.

“I will be meeting with some people that were very badly hurt with their family member, obviously, but I’ll be meeting with some of the families, yeah.”

Trump said he did not have plans currently to visit first responders at the site of the collision.

Asked by a reporter if he had plans to visit the crash site, President Trump said, “I have a plan to visit not the site, because what is it? You tell me, the water? You want me to go swimming?”

The reporter clarified, asking if he plans to visit with first responders at the airport, and Trump said, “I don’t have a plan to do that.”

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu will hold a news conference at 5 p.m. ET to give updates on the fatal collision between an American Airlines flight and a US Army Black Hawk, the mayor’s office tells CNN.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly will also be in attendance, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

The plane, American Airlines Flight 5342, had taken off from Wichita, Kansas, Wednesday and was nearing the runway at Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, when it collided with the military helicopter. President Donald Trump said there are no survivors, and emergency authorities have switched to a “recovery effort” as they continue to search the Potomac River for bodies and debris.

President Donald Trump said he doesn’t believe too many flights go out of Reagan Washington National Airport, suggesting that incompetency is the issue, rather than congestion.

Trump said he is not aware of any performance or disciplinary actions against anyone working in the control tower last night or flying the plane.

“I hope that’s not the case in this case,” Trump said. “But certainly over the years, has been the case, and it’s the case with respect to close calls, and it’s the case with respect to circling for hours on end.”

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board will look at a wide range of potential causes of the collision. It is too early to tell whether the tower staffing at the time played a role in the incident.

This post has been updated with additional information.

President Donald Trump talks to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House on Thursday, in Washington, DC.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said the midair collision believed to have killed dozens of people over the Potomac River won’t lead him to reconsider his buyout offer for federal employees.

In remarks to the press while signing aviation-related actions in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said the February 6 deadline for federal employees to decide whether to resign and take the buyout is still in effect.

“If people aren’t coming to work, if they’re not going to come into the office and report as per the date that you know what it is, everybody knows what the date is, it’s been very well documented, then they’re going to be terminated,” Trump said.

If those people choose to accept the buyout, Trump added, “Then they’ll be replaced with very competent people. We have a lot of competent people in this country.”

CNN previously reported that there was one air traffic controller working two different tower positions at the time of the collision Wednesday night. Asked if a manpower shortage might have contributed, Trump replied: “Well, that’s part of competence right there.”

“They shouldn’t have that happen. Right there is what I’m talking about. Competence would be, you’re not going to have a shortage. But if you had the right people, you wouldn’t need as many people, either.”

His remarks came hours after Trump baselessly blamed the crash on diversity initiatives in the government.

Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson said the union is mourning the loss of two of its members who were killed in Wednesday night’s catastrophic plane collision.

The AFA represents over 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines, according to its website.

The public should give The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the probe into the collision, the time to conduct the investigation and determine the cause of the deadly crash so that necessary changes can be made “to keep aviation safe,” Nelson said. The NTSB said Thursday it hopes to have a preliminary report ready within 30 days.

Aviation workers identify potential risks and work to mitigate them “every single day, all day long,” Nelson said. Flight attendants not only assess the scene and equipment, but also their own ability to do their jobs, she said. “There has to be a self-assessment of whether or not we are safe, we are in a condition to do our job,” Nelson said.

DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly speaks at a press conference with other officials to give updates following a collision between an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

Despite challenging conditions for divers and recovery teams in the Potomac River, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said he is confident “we will recover the remains of everyone” involved in the collision.

The fire chief said divers have been working for about 20 hours, carrying out efforts in different areas around the crash site. Wind, ice and jet fuel on the water are just some of the factors making the job difficult, he told CNN on Thursday.

Additionally, many areas of the Potomac where crews are working are not very deep.

Wreckage from the collided passenger plane and helicopter also could rip divers’ suits, another hazard, he said. Officials are in the process of mapping the debris field, according to Donnelly.

The fire chief said about 300 responders from 21 different agencies responded to the collision on Wednesday night. “That doesn’t happen in many places,” he said.

Authorities said earlier today that there are believed to be no survivors. The aircraft, flying from Wichita, Kansas, was carrying 64 people, while three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.

“This is a tragedy,” Donnelly said. “We are in a business where we deal with the loss of life or people being hurt and one person is bad, and it’s hard — and 67 is a lot.”

There was one air traffic controller working two different tower positions at the time of the collision Wednesday night, an air traffic control source tells CNN.

The source describes the set-up, which had one person handling both local and helicopter traffic, as not uncommon.

The New York Times, which first reported the detail, says an internal, preliminary Federal Aviation Administration internal report says staffing was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.”

The Reagan National control tower is 85 percent staffed, the source said, with 24 of 28 positions filled.

The National Transportation Safety Board is just beginning its investigation and will look at a wide range of potential causes of the collision. It is too early to tell whether the tower staffing at the time played a role in the incident.

CNN has reached out to the FAA for comment.

There are so far no indications that emergency evacuation slides were deployed on the commercial plane after its crash into the Potomac River on Wednesday night, National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman said.

“Right now, we’re going through the debris fields. Nothing we’ve seen would indicate that maybe slides or shoots were deployed,” he said. “It was a very quick, rapid impact.”

He cautioned that the NTSB still needs to verify that information.

The National Transportation Safety Board received a “very large package of information” from the Federal Aviation Administration early this morning.

At approximately 3 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration gave the NTSB the information, NTSB member J. Todd Inman said at a media briefing Thursday. The briefing was the first from the NTSB following the crash of a commercial jet and a helicopter in Washington, DC, which killed everyone on board.

“We received a very large package of information from the FAA at about 3 a.m. I believe, this morning, that is still being reviewed and analyzed,” Inman said. “I would say there’s a lot more information that usually comes in than that what you may find online, and people might speculate about, and that is part of that overall process where we take the time to get the information correct and to make sure all the parties are engaged, involved, and can fact check that information.”

The National Transportation Safety Board investigation will look at the “human, machine and the environment” to determine the cause of the deadly collision, the agency said Tuesday.

NTSB member Todd Inman said if investigators “find something that is a significant issue that warrants immediate attention, we will not hesitate to make those recommendations and make them public.”

Emergency response units work at the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on Thursday, in Arlington, Virginia.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board made a plea for people to give the agency time to verify the facts as it works to investigate what caused the collision between a passenger plane and a helicopter on Wednesday.

She said this level of verification is important for all parties involved, including families of the victims.

“We do have a lot of information, but we need some time to verify that,” Homendy reiterated.

Some context: Despite the investigation being in its earliest stages, President Donald Trump wasted no time Thursday baselessly blaming Democrats and diversity initiatives in the federal government for the midair collision that killed 67 people over the Potomac River.

“I have common sense, OK?” Trump said, when pressed what evidence he had to give credence to the blame he piled on the Biden and Obama administrations. “Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.”

He also appeared to place blame for the midair collision on “very late” warnings from air traffic control and the soldiers flying the US Army Black Hawk helicopter, who, he said, “should have seen where they were going.”

Homendy, who was originally nominated to the board by Trump and later nominated as chair by former President Joe Biden, at one point responded to questions about the speculation by turning it around on the media, saying “the press also likes to state what probable cause is before we get to the probable cause.”

This post has been updated with context about Trump’s claims today and more from Homendy’s comments.

US Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the Coast Guard witnessed the midair collision as it occurred Wednesday and swiftly took action to assist.

“Our cutter,” Noem said, referring to a type of Coast Guard vessel, “was the first to arrive on the scene,” she shared in a post on X Thursday.

The secretary also included photos of herself with Coast Guard personnel.

CEO of the American Airlines Robert Isom addresses the media in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has met with the families of victims of Flight 5342, Isom told CNN as he was departing Reagan National Airport’s departures lobby.

Isom, accompanied by security and press staff and dressed casually in a blue quarter-zip sweater, nodded solemnly when asked by CNN if he had met with victims’ families and planned to meet with investigators.

CNN was prevented from asking additional questions before the team departed the airport’s upper level atrium.

As victims’ families arrive in Washington D.C. to remember their loved ones, American Airlines agents working at the ticketing desk were seen bringing bouquets of flowers through security.

National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman said the agency will be briefing the families of victims of Flight 5342 later today.

Many of those families are en route to the scene, while others are being notified, Inman said. A family assistance facility is being set up by American and PSA airlines in Bethesda, Maryland, he said.

Loss of life in an aviation accident is “very unusual in the United States,” Inman said. The agency will find out what happened through multiple working groups, he added. “We will do it factually and we will do it accurately,” Inman said.

If the families wish to visit the collision site, NTSB can arrange it once it’s safe and perishable evidence has been collected, Inman said. “It will take some time,” he said.

National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman said the agency’s goal is to issue a preliminary report on the cause of the plane-helicopter collision within 30 days.

“Our investigative team will be on scene as long as it takes in order to obtain all of the perishable evidence and all of the fact-finding that is needed to bring us to a conclusion of probable cause,” he said.

The final report will be issued “once we’ve completed all of our fact-finding and investigation,” Inman added.

The National Transportation Safety Board will allow first responders do their jobs first, before it starts its investigation into the deadly collision, the board’s chair said on Thursday.

NTSB Chair Jennifer L. Homendy called it an “all hands on deck event.”

She said this is the first day the NTSB has had a full crew on the scene, with about 50 people at the site of the crash as well as other personnel ready to assist at the agency’s headquarters and labs around the country.

But first, “we allow the responders to do their important safety mission, which in this case was search and rescue and recovery,” she said. “We stand back to allow them to do their important safety mission.”

Homendy emphasized that the NTSB will “leave no stone unturned in this investigation” and that it would be a “whole of government effort.” The agency’s chair added that she briefed President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance earlier today.

“We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy, looking at the facts,” she said.

Homendy said the agency would provide more information as it is uncovered.

This post has been updated with more comments from Homendy.

The National Transportation Safety Board is giving an update on the investigation and recovery efforts after a deadly collision between a passenger plane and Army helicopter near Washington, DC.

The news conference is being held at Reagan Washington National Airport, the agency said in a social media post.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and the investigator in charge are expected to speak.

All members of the 1961 US figure skating team headed to the world championships in Prague died when Sabena Flight 548 crashed in Belgium. The cause of the disaster was never confirmed.

The deaths of several members of the US figure skating community evoked grim memories of the 1961 plane crash that killed all 18 members of the US figure skating team headed to the world figure skating championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

A married pair of skating champions, two young skaters and their mothers were among those killed in the plane crash Wednesday night, the Skating Club of Boston said Thursday. Young athletes were also on board, returning from a developmental camp following the US championships in Wichita, US Figure Skating said. The organization has not confirmed the total number of skaters killed.

More than 60 years ago, a plane crash killed not just elite athletes but also their coaches – leaving seismic voids in US figure skating for generations to come. The talent included US ice dance champions Diane Carol Sherbloom and Larry Pierce; Olympic pairs skaters Maribel Yerxa Owen and Dudley Shaw Richards; and Owen’s mother, renowned coach Maribel Yerxa Vinson-Owen.

In honor of those victims, US Figure Skating established a memorial fund that has given “more than $20 million in financial support to thousands of athletes for skating-related and academic expenses,” according to the group’s website.

Once again, the calamity severed the dreams of young athletes “and their hopes and their dreams to represent the United States in international competition and the Olympics.”

Read the full story.

More bodies have been recovered over the past hour from the wreckage of the plane and helicopter collision in Washington, DC, a law enforcement source told CNN.

The mangled wreckage in the Potomac River is making the recovery effort particularly difficult for the dive teams, who have had trouble accessing parts of the plane’s fuselage.

It has been an extensive recovery effort described as including essentially every dive team in the area.

Firefighters arrived on the scene in a fire boat just seven minutes after receiving the alert about the midair collision between a military Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet, Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, told CNN on Thursday.

“They had a lot working against them. They had the current in the river. They had jet fuel all over in the water with them. They had debris. They had ice. Like I said, the swift current was a challenge, searching the fuselage – there’s a lot of sharp objects in the cockpit – so it was a very difficult and risky and dangerous rescue attempt,” Kelly said.

There were close to 50 divers in the water responding to the incident at one point, he said.

“One thing that was a blessing was the civilian dinner boat in DC did a trip up the Potomac yesterday, which actually broke the ice that allowed the smaller boats to respond to the actual crash last night,” he noted.

Officials believe there are no survivors of the collision and have recovered 28 bodies so far.

With the operation now shifted from a rescue to a recovery mission, Kelly said responders will adopt a more methodical approach, prioritizing safety. For instance, responders won’t perform dangerous night dives, he said.

Hazardous materials in the water also make the recovery mission harder, Kelly said.

“It’s contaminating our dive suits,” he said. “Some of our dive suits were ripped during the course of the searches, which compromised them.”

However, the divers can stay down longer because the water is not too deep — only about eight feet in some areas — Kelly said.

The captain of the American Airlines flight involved in Wednesday’s midair collision was Jonathan Campos, according to a fellow pilot from the airline who knew Campos personally.

Campos became a captain for American Airlines in 2022, his colleague said.

No other information about Campos was immediately available.

Some context: One of the American Airlines pilots, 28-year-old Samuel Lilley, has also been confirmed as a victim after the midair collision, his father told CNN. Lilley was the first officer on the flight, his father said in a Facebook post. “I was so proud when Sam became a pilot,” Timothy Lilley wrote. “Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep. I know I’ll see him again but my heart is breaking.”

Tennessee Garvey, a pilot and the chair of the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, pushed back against President Donald Trump’s comments appearing to blame diversity initiatives for a deadly plane collision Wednesday night.

Garvey called the president’s remarks on Thursday from the White House briefing room “very concerning.”

“Diversity hiring initiatives have never been attributed to any aviation accidents or incidents, so it sends the wrong information and it also sends miscommunication about truly what diversity hiring is,” Garvey told CNN.

During his remarks, Trump appeared to blame a “diversity push” at the Federal Aviation Administration, without evidence, for the midair collision. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy also alluded to Trump’s comments, saying that “we can only accept the best and the brightest in positions of safety that impact the lives of our loved ones, our family members.”

Garvey said the reason that organizations like his exist it to “create opportunities to underrepresented communities.” Responding to Trump’s claim that diversity efforts lowered standards for hiring, Garvey said in his 22 years in the industry, “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Garvey said there is also ongoing training that ensures that both pilots and air traffic controllers “maintain a very high level of proficiency and skill set.”

“There have been never lowering of any standards,” he said, adding that if anything, he has seen the standards increase over the years.

The instructor pilot on the US Army Black Hawk helicopter that was conducting a training mission over the Potomac on Wednesday had about 1,000 flight hours, and the copilot who was being evaluated had about 500 hours, according to Army official Jonathan Koziol, a retired CW5 aviation expert and chief of staff of the Army’s Aviation Directorate.

Both are considered experienced, given that the Black Hawk training missions typically last around two hours each, Koziol said.

Samuel Lilley, 28, one of the pilots of the American Airlines jet that collided midair with a military Black Hawk helicopter, has been confirmed as a victim, his father told CNN.

“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot,” Timothy Lilley said in a Facebook post on Thursday. “Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep. I know I’ll see him again but my heart is breaking.”

His son, who was engaged and expected to get married in the fall, was “doing great in his career and his personal life,” Lilley said in the post.

Lilley was the first officer on the deadly flight, the post said.

“It is so devastating to lose someone that is loved so much,” Lilley said.

“This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,” he told non-affilliate FOX 5 Atlanta.

A longtime pilot himself, Lilley told Fox 5 Atlanta he was in New York for work when he realized his son was in the cockpit at the time of the accident. He initially couldn’t believe it was his son’s flight, but when Sam failed to check in—something he always did— he said his worst fears were confirmed.

Lilley, who served 20 years as a helicopter pilot in the Army, is familiar with the complexities of such operations.

“I was a helicopter pilot in the Army for 20 years. In the ’90s, I used to fly in and out of the Pentagon regularly, and I can tell you if you are flying on the route over the Potomac and wearing night vision goggles, it’s going to be very hard to see that plane. If you’re not wearing the goggles, then you might have a chance,” Lilley told Fox 5 Atlanta.

He said he believes the commercial PSA jet involved in the incident was following proper procedures, but the military helicopter made a tragic error.

“From what I can see, those guys turned right into the jet. I think the PSA jet was doing everything right. The Army pilot made a grave error. It hurts me because those are my brothers, and now my son is dead,” Lilley told Fox 5 Atlanta.

Figure skater Spencer Lane, who died in the plane crash, posted this photo to his Instagram Stories on Wednesday.

Figure skater Spencer Lane, one of the victims in the plane crash, posted a photo showing the right wing of an airplane on his Instagram Stories on Wednesday before the plane took off.

The photo has the caption “ICT -> DCA”, which are the airport codes for Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Lane and his mother had just attended the US Figure Skating Championships and National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas. They were identified as two of the passengers on board American Airlines Flight 5342, which crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday after colliding with a US Army helicopter.

US Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan said she went to the Skating Club of Boston on Thursday to support the community she loves after learning several athletes and coaches were among those killed in a plane collision last night.

Kerrigan said she had been watching coverage of the tragedy all night, but then “when you find out you know some of the people on the plane, it’s even a bigger blow.”

The Skating Club of Boston confirmed that coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, as well as athletes Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, were on the flight. Christine Lane and Jin Han, the skater’s mothers, were on the plane as well, the club said.

They were in Kansas participating in events related to the US Figure Skating Championships, the national governing body of the sport confirmed.

Shishkova and Naumov, the coaches, were the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs. They represented Russia but moved to the US, where they launched successful coaching careers. Kerrigan won the silver medal at the Olympics that year.

While Kerrigan said she didn’t know the coaches personally, she did remember seeing them over the years. She remembered that they always had a “smile on their face.”

This post has been updated.

The organizers of the US Olympic and Paralympic teams are mourning the “profound loss” of passengers aboard the American Airlines flight, including members of the figure skating community, the CEO of the US Olympic Committee said in a Team USA Post on X.

Among the victims were “talented athletes, dedicated coaches, and beloved family members from the US Figure Skating community, all returning home from the National Development Camp,” Hirshland said.

Some context: Passengers aboard the American Airlines flight included athletes and others returning from a development camp that was held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships, which had been held over several days in Wichita, according to the organization that oversees figure skating in the US. The Skating Club of Boston named six who were killed in the crash.

First responders have not yet retrieved the cockpit voice recorder or the flight data recorder, also known as the black boxes, from the CRJ-700 aircraft that collided with a military helicopter before plunging into the Potomac River, Federal Aviation Administration officials told lawmakers.

The information came on a call where the government agency briefed members of Congress, according to two sources briefed on the call.

Recovering those items, which record both cockpit conversations and a slew of data points from the avionics, will be key as the National Transportation Safety Board begins to investigate the incident.

An American Airlines plane prepares to take off as investigators carry pieces of wreckage from the waters of the Potomac River after American Airlines flight 5342 on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river after colliding with a US Army helicopter, near Washington, DC, on Thursday.

American Airlines has canceled two scheduled flights on Thursday between Wichita, Kansas, and Washington, DC, after a deadly collision involving one of its passenger planes on that route last night.

One of the flights was scheduled to depart from Reagan National Airport near DC at around 2:21 p.m., according to American Airlines website.

The other was scheduled to depart from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport at 5:18 p.m., according to the airline.

The passenger plane involved in the collision on Wednesday night was American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, traveling from Wichita to Reagan National, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft.

The Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided midair with the US Army helicopter as it approached Runway 33, according to the FAA and defense officials.

Congressional delegations from the Washington metropolitan area are receiving a briefing on the fatal plane collision from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to two congressional aides.

With 64 people on the American Airlines jet and three soldiers on the Black Hawk helicopter, the collision left no survivors, according to President Donald Trump. Authorities have found 28 bodies and are working to recover others.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the crash, will handle the government’s communication about the victims, according to local lawmakers. The agency is expected to hold a news conference sometime this afternoon.

Officials are now operating a recovery effort after a passenger plane on approach to Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, collided Wednesday night with a US Army helicopter midair, sending both aircraft into the Potomac River below.

DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said there are not believed to be any survivors.

In remarks Thursday, President Donald Trump oscillated between suggesting Democrats, DEI policies, air traffic controllers, and even the military flying the Black Hawk helicopter were to blame.

Trump also announced former chief operating officer of the National Business Aviation Association, Chris Rocheleau, will serve as the Federal Aviation Administration’s acting commissioner in the wake of the tragedy.

Here’s what key officials are saying:

This post has been updated with additional reactions.

Speaking from the White House briefing room, President Donald Trump blamed a “diversity push” at FAA without evidence for the midair collision near Washington, DC, but pilot and flight instructor Pete Muntean, CNN’s own aviation correspondent, said the President was getting “out ahead of his skis.”

“What he has said is not only unprofessional, unpresidential, inconsiderate of the status of this investigation, but frankly, it is just unhinged that he could even say with any sort of certainty that diversity, equity and inclusion policies had any part to play in this accident,” Muntean said.

He pointed out the collision occurred less than 24 hours ago.

“Remember that 67 people are dead. I hate to get so upset here, but this is something that investigators will really need to pick apart piece by piece, and that is going to take some really significant time,” said Muntean.

Muntean reacted to Trump’s implication that hiring practices of Air Traffic Controllers may be to blame.

“I have to feel for the air traffic controllers in the tower at Reagan National Airport, who had to essentially sit there helplessly and make the call to first responders to say, we have a serious aircraft crash at 8:48 p.m. last night.”

Trump defended his move to politicize the tragedy, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins he didn’t believe blaming the Biden administration and others while victims have yet to be identified was getting ahead of the still unfolding accident investigation and told reporters that “it just could have been” when he was asked for evidence to support the claims that the crash was caused by DEI.

Muntean pointed out that despite being in the briefing room, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, did not address reporters.

A Virginia school district said today that some former students were aboard the plane that collided with a US Army helicopter last night over the Potomac River.

“This unimaginable loss has deeply affected our community, and with great sorrow, we have learned that multiple victims were former LCPS students,” Loudoun County’s district superintendent Aaron Spence said in a statement. “Many other Loudoun families have also been impacted, and we extend our deepest condolences to all those grieving in the wake of this tragedy.”

Mental health support will be provided to students and district staff, the superintendent said.

Loudoun County is located northwest of Washington D.C.

The notoriously difficult job of navigating airspace restrictions near Reagan National Airport is made more complicated by the very congested air traffic there, an American Airlines pilot who has flown into the airport says.

With its unique location straddling the Pentagon and Washington landmarks, whose bright lights reflect off the Potomac River, Tajer told CNN’s Kate Bolduan it is always a challenge when pilots are told to watch out for another aircraft.

“It’s a very challenging environment to call out, ‘Yes, I have visual with the aircraft that you’re identifying,’ and then that’s trusting that you’re seeing the right airplane.”

No survivors are expected from the midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter last night over the Potomac River. Data shows that while some years in the 1990s saw hundreds of fatalities, total fatalities since 2002 have amounted to fewer than 200.

President Donald Trump stands beside Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy during a briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the midair collision between a passenger plane and Army helicopter “shouldn’t have happened” and that reforms would be made to assure it wouldn’t happen again.

“It should not have happened,” Duffy said. “When Americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land at their destination – that didn’t happen yesterday. That’s not acceptable, and so we will not accept excuses. We will not accept passing the buck. We are going to take responsibility at the Department of Transportation and the FAA to make sure we have the reforms that have been dictated by President Trump in place to make sure that these mistakes do not happen again and again.”

Duffy alluded to Trump’s comments on DEI saying that “we can only accept the best and the brightest in positions of safety that impact the lives of our loved ones, our family members.”

Vice President JD Vance also stepped up to the podium suggesting – without citing any evidence – that hiring standards have been lowered at air traffic control, which would be rectified by the Trump administration.

“When you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means, on the one hand, you’re not getting the best people in government, but on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there. And I think that is a core part of what President Trump is going to bring, and has already brought to Washington DC, is we want to hire the best people, because we want the best people at air traffic control, and we want to make sure we have enough people at air traffic control who are actually competent to do the job,” Vance said.

Vance also claimed that hundreds of people sued the government because “they would like to be air traffic controllers, but they were turned away because of the color of their skin.”

President Donald Trump attends a briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday.

President Donald Trump defended his move to politicize a tragic passenger plane collision in remarks Thursday, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins he didn’t believe blaming the Biden administration and others while victims have yet to be identified was getting ahead of the accident investigation still unfolding.

In his remarks Thursday, Trump oscillated between suggesting Democrats, air traffic controllers, and even the military flying the Black Hawk helicopter involved in Wednesday’s collision were to blame for the tragic accident. When Collins pressed him over he should be doing so before authorities have even identified victims from the crash, Trump defended his stance.

In a follow-up exchange, reporters pressed Trump on why he was able to so definitively say DEI policies were responsible for Wednesday’s crash.

“Because I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately, a lot of people don’t,” Trump said.

When he was asked to clarify why he thought a “diversity push” at the FAA played a role in Wednesday’s collision, President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that “it just could have been.”

“It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a higher, much higher standard than anybody else,” Trump said.

Trump did not cite any evidence.

CNN has reached out to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association for reaction to the president’s claims. The union’s head said earlier Thursday it is too soon to speculate on the collision’s cause.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a briefing at the White House on Thursday.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said Wednesday night’s midair collision between a passenger plane and military helicopter took place while the helicopter was conducting a routine training mission, but added “a mistake was made” during the training.

“No excuses. We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” the secretary said from the White House on Thursday.

The helicopter carrying three servicemembers was participating in a “routine annual training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission,” the secretary said.

“The military does dangerous things. It does routine things on a regular basis. Tragically, last night, a mistake was made,” Hegseth said.

“There was some … sort of an elevation issue that we have immediately begun investigating at the DOD and Army level,” he said.

Some context: Training for “continuity of government” missions are routine exercises that the military and other federal agencies conduct to ensure the federal government can operate in the event a manmade or natural disaster threatens or strikes the Washington area. Helicopters are key to shuttling certain government leaders to locations of safety in the event of catastrophe.

The soldiers flying the Black Hawk helicopter involved in Wednesday’s crash were from the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion.

CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed reporting to this post.

Flights started taking off from Reagan National Airport late Thursday morning, flight-tracking software on FlightRadar24 shows.

Several flights departed from the Southwest Airlines terminal, with the first seen just after 11 a.m. Thursday.

A couple flights also arrived just after 11 a.m., including from Southwest and Alaska Airlines, according to FlightRadar24.

The ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure warned against jumping to conclusions about the cause of the deadly midair collision outside Washington, DC, Wednesday night, even as President Donald Trump, without evidence, sought to blame the policies of previous Democratic administrations.

“It never does any good to speculate on the causes of aviation accidents before we have the facts and the details,” Rep. Rick Larson (D-WA) said in a social media post. “It is important to let the NTSB complete its work before we consider any potential policy response.”

“My heart goes out to the families of the victims on both aircraft following last night’s awful tragedy,” he said.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday.

President Donald Trump read some headlines while speaking from the lectern at the White House briefing room, appearing to blame a “diversity push” at FAA without evidence for the midair collision in the Washington, DC area.

“I do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office. And here’s one, the FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing. And then it says FAA says people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce said ‘they want them in, and they want them, they can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so. This was January 14, so that was a week before I entered office. They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program,” Trump said.

“Brilliant people have to be in those positions, and their lives are actually shortened, very substantially shortened because of the stress where you have many, many planes coming into one target, and you need a very special talent and a very special genius to be able to do it,” the president added.

No one is believed to have survived the midair collision between an American Airlines jet plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter last night in the Washington, DC, area, fire chief John Donnelly said Thursday. President Donald Trump said “there are no survivors,” adding the White House has “strong opinions” of what led to the collision.

The president of the International Skating Union told CNN’s Amanda Davies he is “heartbroken by the news” of the midair collision.

“The International Skating Union and the figure skating community of the world are heartbroken by the news that some of the figure skaters, their family and friends and coaches are understood to be on a flight that was involved in a tragic accident last night,” Jae Youl Kim said to Davies in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.

“We are in close contact with US Figure Skating, and we offer full support in this incredibly difficult time. The figure skating community is a very special community with a strong bond, more like a family-like relationship, and we have our thoughts with everybody that is waiting to hear the news about their loved ones.”

The European Figure Skating Championships run through Sunday in Tallinn, Estonia, and the International Skating Union tells CNN it will pay tribute by observing a moment of silence before the start of the competition.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the former chief operating officer of the National Business Aviation Association, Chris Rocheleau, will serve as the Federal Aviation Administration’s acting commissioner in the wake of Wednesday’s passenger plane collision near Washington, DC.

Rocheleau, who Trump called “highly respected” in remarks from the White House press briefing room Thursday, joined a line of officials on hand for Trump’s remarks on the deadly collision.

Also in the room for Trump’s remarks were newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.

As CNN reported earlier Thursday, Mike Whitaker, who headed up the Federal Aviation Administration during the Biden administration, stepped down ahead of the new administration and the position has yet to be filled, leaving the aviation agency without a key leader during one of the deadliest aviation crashes in American history.

According to the FAA website, alongside the roles of administrator and deputy administrator, the agency does not have an associate administrator of airports, an associate administrator for security and hazardous materials safety, chief counsel, assistant administrator of communications, assistant administrator of government and industry affairs and assistant administrator for policy, international affairs and environment as the new administration ramps up its leadership.

President Donald Trump also fired Transportation Security Administration chief David Pekoske on Inauguration Day. The agency still has not filled Pekoske’s role or the deputy administrator role.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday.

President Donald Trump said in moments of tragedy like this, “differences between Americans fade to nothing compared to the bonds of affection and loyalty that unite us all as Americans and even as nations.”

“This is really shaking a lot of people, including people very sadly, from other nations, who are on the flight for the family members back in Wichita, Kansas, here in Washington, DC, and throughout the United States and in Russia, we have a Russia contingent, some very talented people. Unfortunately, we’re on that plane,” Trump said in the Brady Briefing Room moments ago.

Promising to work “very diligently in the days to come,” Trump said his administration is here to offer support for those affected.

“We are one family, and today we are all heartbroken. We’re all searching for answers that icy, icy Potomac, or is it cold, cold night, cold water. We’re all overcome with the grief for many who have so tragically perished will no longer be with us together. We take solace in the knowledge that their journey ended not in the cold waters of the Potomac, but in the warm embrace of a loving God,” Trump said.

Trump offered this message of unity before criticizing the previous Democratic leadership and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday.

President Donald Trump on Thursday, without evidence, sought to blame the policies of previous Democratic administrations for Wednesday’s deadly midair collision over the Potomac River.

“We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system,” Trump said. “I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary.”

He continued: “You remember that. Only the highest aptitude. They have to be the highest intellect and psychologically superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers. That was not so prior to getting there.”

Trump added: “When I arrived in 2016, I made that change very early on, because I always felt this was a job that, and other jobs too, but this was a job that had to be superior intelligence, and we didn’t really have that. And we had it. And then when I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before.

“Their policy was horrible,” the president said, “and their politics was even worse.”

The president later attacked Pete Buttigieg, who was secretary of transportation in Biden’s administration.

“He was a disaster,” Trump said of the former secretary, who previously also worked as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. “He was a disaster as a mayor, he ran his city into the ground, and he’s a disaster now. He’s just got a good line of bullshit.”

Trump said Buttigieg ran the Department of Transportation “into the ground with his diversity”

This post was updated with Trump’s remarks about Pete Buttigieg.

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House on Thursday.

The White House has “strong opinions” of what led to the midair collision near Reagan National Airport, President Donald Trump said in a briefing today.

“We did not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think we’ll probably state those opinions now, because over the years, I’ve watched as things like this happen,” Trump said.

“We think we have some pretty good ideas, but we’ll find out how this disaster occurred, and we’ll ensure that nothing like this ever happens again,” the president added.

The head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a letter to its members posted online that it is “premature to speculate on root cause.”

President Donald Trump speaks in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday in Washington, DC.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said there were no survivors in the previous day’s midair collision between a military helicopter and passenger plane over the Potomac River.

“The work has now shifted to a recovery mission,” Trump said, adding Wednesday was “a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history.”

The FAA and NTSB will brief Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at noon Thursday, she posted on social media.

“I have spoken with [NTSB] Chair [Jennifer] Homendy and I know the NTSB will lead a thorough investigation,” the senator said. “This is key to fully knowing what happened.”

She said she agreed with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that “safety is paramount.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on social media Thursday morning his condolences for the victims of the midair collision over Reagan National Airport and their families.

“May God rest the souls on that plane and in the helicopter and comfort their grieving families,” he posted.

President Donald Trump pauses for a moment of silence before speaking at the White House on Thursday.

President Donald Trump began Thursday’s news briefing with a moment of silence for the victims and their families.

“I’d like to request a moment of silence for the victims and their families,” Trump said before bowing his head.

Trump is currently briefing the press from the White House Briefing Room.

The soldiers flying the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the American Airlines flight Wednesday night were from the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion. Pilots from this unit regularly fly near Reagan National Airport and are typically highly experienced navigating the complex airspace, former pilots in the unit told CNN.

“The low level helicopter routes have been in operation for decades — that area is one of the busiest aviation operation centers in the country, if not the world,” Brad Bowman, a former Black Hawk pilot and member of the 12th Aviation Battalion, who is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CNN.

The soldiers flying the Black Hawk on Wednesday were “fairly experienced,” and they were on an annual proficiency training flight, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Thursday.

Pilots who fly with the 12th Aviation Battalion, based out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, frequently fly along the Potomac River and past the airport for various missions — often picking up general officers or Army leaders to and from the Pentagon, or other VIPs elsewhere in the northeast.

On the route past Reagan National Airport, the helicopters drop down to their lowest altitude of the entire route, with the intention of getting low to “deconflict with aircraft at Reagan,” Bowman said.

Roughly 100 government helicopter flights happen every day through the corridor where the crash happened, including by Army, Marine, Navy, FBI and Department of Homeland Security aircraft, another former pilot of the unit told CNN.

More background: The pilots of the American Airlines flight also were experienced, the company’s CEO said.

Four steamfitter union members were among those killed in the deadly collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet plane, the union announced Thursday.

“We are heartbroken to confirm that four members of UA Steamfitters Local 602 were among the victims of the American Airlines Flight 5342 crash yesterday,” the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada said on X.

No one is believed to have survived the crash. Authorities have recovered 28 bodies as of Thursday morning.

“Our focus is now on providing support and care to the families of the Brothers as we continue to gather more information in the coming days,” the union statement said.

The union is planning for a nationwide relief effort for the families of the victims, the statement notes.

First lady Melania Trump attends a briefing in Fletcher, North Carolina on January 24.

First lady Melania Trump said in a post on social media Thursday that her “heart goes out” to those affected by the mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the Washington, DC area.

“My heart goes out to those impacted by last night’s terrible tragedy. I pray for those who so sadly lost their lives, their families & loved ones, & the first responders who have worked tirelessly through the night. May they find strength and solace in this difficult time,” she wrote in a post on X.

No one is believed to have survived the mid-air collision between an American Airlines airplane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River last night the DC fire chief John Donnelly said Thursday.

Mike Whitaker testifies at a Senate hearing in Washington, DC in June 2024.

Mike Whitaker, who headed up the Federal Aviation Administration during the Biden administration, stepped down ahead of the new administration and the position has yet to be filled, leaving the aviation agency without a key leader during one of the deadliest aviation crashes in American history.

In December, Whitaker wrote to FAA workers he would end his five-year term on the day of the inauguration, well before the end of the term. Whitaker became administrator in October 2023.

He had notably clashed with SpaceX CEO and leader of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk over the agency’s oversight of rocket launches. Deputy administrator Katie Thomson left January 10, as well, a second key vacancy. Musk called on Whitaker to resign in September, after Whitaker had testified before Congress and faced tough questions about the agency’s oversight of SpaceX.

According to the FAA website, alongside the roles of administrator and deputy administrator, the agency does not have an associate administrator of airports, an associate administrator for security and hazardous materials safety, chief counsel, assistant administrator of communications, assistant administrator of government and industry affairs and assistant administrator for policy, international affairs and environment as the new administration ramps up its leadership.

President Donald Trump also fired Transportation Security Administration chief David Pekoske on Inauguration Day. The agency still has not filled Pekoske’s role or the deputy administrator role.

The Department of Transportation only a couple days ago confirmed Sean Duffy to lead the agency that oversees the FAA. Duffy has been providing updates from the department and on the scene at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday.

Authorities have begun the grim process of investigating how an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board became the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001, after it collided Wednesday night near Reagan National Airport, likely leaving no survivors.

Here is what we know:

Sen. Tim Kaine speaks during a news conference in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has previously warned about heavy air traffic at DCA, told reporters he had always been “very concerned” that a tragedy like last night’s crash could occur.

In the months leading up to last year’s FAA reauthorization, Kaine and fellow Virginia Sen. Mark Warner voiced concerns about the risks of the congested airspace, particularly as other senators advocated for adding more flights to the airport.

“In the end, the National Transportation Safety Board will do an investigation of this, and I have high confidence in them, and they’ll look and see what was the cause of this devastating tragedy, and I’m not going to speculate. They’ll do the work, they’re good at it, they’ll give us answers,” he noted.

“But yeah, I’ve been very, very concerned about this very complex airspace, commercial, military, and the way that the security demands of being the nation’s capital put some significant restrictions on it. And I am really worried about that, and I’ve been praying that there wouldn’t have been – there wouldn’t be something like last night, but kind of dreading in my heart that there would be.”

The control tower at the Reagan National Airport after the crash of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River on approach to the airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. The American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided midair with a military Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. According to reports, there were no survivors among the 67 people on both aircraft.

It is “premature to speculate on root cause” of the deadly collision between a regional jet and helicopter near Reagan National Airport, the head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a letter to its members posted online.

“We will wait for the National Transportation Safety Board to complete its work and use that information to help guide decisions and changes to enhance and improve aviation safety,” NATCA President Nick Daniels wrote, noting that he cannot yet comment on specifics.

The union is in touch with controllers working at the airport, Daniels wrote.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has nearly 20,000 members, according to its website.

A 17-year-old witness to the fatal aircraft collision in Washington had a frighteningly close view of the tragedy.

Jimmy Mazel told CNN’s Pamela Brown that he was dining at Gravelly Point Park, a small public greenspace in Arlington, just 1,000 feet from the main runway of Reagan National Airport.

“I noticed a white light falling out of the sky, and I wasn’t sure what it was. I was very concerned to what it could be,” Mazel said.

He said it was too dark to see exactly what was happening, and he only learned the details after speaking with reporters gathering in Arlington.

“I’m still shocked. I’m still a little shaken,” Mazel said.

Former President Barack Obama and other leaders expressed their condolences Thursday morning to those who lost loved ones in the tragic collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet.

“Our hearts break for the families who lost loved ones in the tragic plane and helicopter crash at DCA. Michelle and I send our prayers and condolences to everyone who is mourning today, and we’re grateful to the first responders who are doing everything they can to help under extremely difficult circumstances,” Obama wrote in a post on X.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told CNN his sympathy is with grieving families after the “horrifically tragic night.”

“I can’t begin to even express the heartfelt sympathy from across the Commonwealth, and you’re seeing it across the country,” Youngkin said Thursday morning.

Former President Joe Biden also released a statement on social media about Wednesday night’s midair collision, stating that he and former first lady Jill Biden “are praying for the families of the victims who tragically lost their lives.”

A flight information board shows cancelled flights at the Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is preparing to resume flight operations at 11 a.m. ET, but airport authorities are directing passengers to check with airlines about canceled or delayed flights.

“Reagan National airport will resume flight operations at 11:00am. All airport roads and terminals are open,” the airport said on X.

“Some flights have been delayed or cancelled, so passengers are encouraged to check with their airline for specific flight information.”

Passengers with luggage have slowly started to trickle into the airport, and TSA screenings in at least one terminal have begun.

Flight boards show several canceled arrival and departures for the next few hours.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks in Washington, DC in June 2024.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin expressed his sympathy Thursday for “the families that have woken up this morning to the shocking reality that they have lost a loved one,” in the deadly collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines jet plane.

Youngkin praised first responders from the Coast Guard, Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland who activated immediately, “and into the frigid waters of the Potomac they went in order to try to rescue people.”

Youngkin said he’s been in touch with American Airlines CEO Robert Isom.

“They are undertaking the just terrible task of having to call families, families of passengers and families of the crew members,” he said. “This process will happen over the course of the day.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is “aggressively moving personnel from all over the country in order to start this investigation,” Youngkin said.

“The initial briefs were that everything was routine going into the approach for landing for American Airlines Flight 5342 and that, in fact, contact had been made with, of course, the military helicopter as well,” he said. “But of course, it clearly wasn’t routine, and we had two aircraft in the river with 67 fatalities.”

A Hornblower Group City Cruises ship is seen among emergency response units searching the crash site on the Potomac River on Thursday.

Hornblower Group’s City Cruises, a company that operates sight-seeing cruises along the Potomac River in Washington DC, said it is assisting in the emergency response to Wednesday night’s plane crash.

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov compete at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

A married pair of skating champions, two young skaters and two of their parents were among those killed in the plane crash, the Skating Club of Boston said Thursday.

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs. They represented Russia but moved to the US, where they launched successful coaching careers. Their son, Maxim Naumov, just won 4th place at the US men’s figure skating championships last weekend.

Skater Jinna Han and her mother, Jin Han, were also killed, along with skater Spencer Lane and his mother Christine Lane, the Skating Club of Boston said.

The tragedy will have a profound impact on the World Figure Skating Championships in March, which will be in Boston this year.

The Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger plane on Wednesday night was on an annual proficiency training flight, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Thursday.

The Pentagon is withholding names and ranks of the crew members until next of kin are notified, Hegseth said, but “it was a fairly experienced crew that was doing an annual required night evaluation. They did have night vision goggles.”

The unit, the 12th Aviation Battalion, is currently on an operational pause, Hegseth said, until what happened is reviewed. An investigation will seek to determine whether the helicopter was in the proper corridor and at the right altitude at the time of the incident, he noted.

The crew included one officer, a warrant officer and a crew chief, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox earlier Thursday.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speaks during a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland in December 2024.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach nodded Thursday to the elite athletes said to have been aboard the doomed American Airlines flight.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic air accident in Washington DC,” Bach said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with all the victims, their families and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

Kash Patel testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Thursday.

The Senate confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, began with a moment of silence for those impacted by the fatal midair collision between an American Airlines passenger plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter last night in the Washington, DC, area.

A moment of silence was also held at the beginning of the confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominee to be director of national intelligence.

President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump is expected to speak from the White House briefing room Thursday morning about the deadly midair collision, a source familiar with the plans told CNN.

He is expected to be accompanied by newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and other members of his Cabinet.

Trump had been “fully briefed” Wednesday night on the collision near Reagan National airport, he said in a statement at that time.

In an attempt to prevent plane crashes, commercial airplanes are outfitted with a safety system warning of nearby planes known as TCAS, the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, or ACAS, the Airborne Collision Avoidance System.

The system works by indicating to pilots on a display the “positions and relative altitudes” of other nearby transponder operating aircraft.

When necessary, the system provides “Resolution Advisories,” or RAs, meaning a recommended maneuver to avoid a collision. The system does not send RAs below about 1,000 feet on approach, “because a lot of times you are very close to other aircraft and it doesn’t want to give you an escape maneuver that could put you into an obstacle or into the ground,” commercial airline pilot Joshua Schirard told CNN.

TCAS functions independently of the ground-based Air Traffic Control system, making it a “last defense against mid-air collisions,” the National Business Aviation Association says.

The Federal Aviation Administration first implemented TCAS in 1981. Importantly, though, the system does not provide protection against aircraft that do not have an operating transponder, the FAA states.

Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas, where the ill-fated American Airlines regional jet departed Wednesday evening, brought in a volunteer team to support the families of victims as word about the accident came in.

“Airport staff did activate our family incident support team last night, so if family members did show up to the terminal to have additional information, even for support, we were there with them with our team of volunteers along with other airline staff and representatives,” airport director Jesse Romo said in a news conference Thursday morning.

American Airlines is also sending more of its own support team members to Wichita to assist both families and crew members, Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said.

Officials in Wichita, Kansas, where the American Airlines passenger jet originated before it collided with a military helicopter outside of Washington, DC, do not know how many of the passengers were Wichita locals versus how many were traveling through the city.

There are not believed to be any survivors following the disaster, according to officials in Washington.

The passenger jet involved in a deadly collision Wednesday evening near Washington, DC, departed Wichita, Kansas, “as normal,” said the city’s airports director, Jesse Romo.

People scheduled to fly this week from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National airport should check with American Airlines for more information, Romo added.

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu speaks Thursday during a news conference about the plane crash.

Washington, DC, and Wichita, Kansas, will be united “forever” by the deadly plane crash, Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said in an emotional news conference Thursday morning from her city’s main airport.

The American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people had departed Wednesday from Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport before colliding over the Potomac River near Reagan National airport with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers onboard.

Wu was told bodies had been found and there were no survivors, she said. Twenty-eight bodies had been recovered, officials in Washington said earlier Thursday.

The Capitol Building is seen in the background as emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday.

US senators who previously had expressed concern about airspace congestion around Reagan National airport declined to blame heavy traffic for Wednesday’s tragic collision.

Warner and fellow Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine – along with Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and then-Sen. Ben Cardin – fought last year against a measure to add more long-distance service at Reagan National.

“The proposal flies in the face of known safety concerns and known congestion concerns,” Van Hollen said in May.

The move to add more daily flights at DCA was included in a law reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration that passed over the objections of the DC-area lawmakers.

“We’ve been pretty plain about our concerns, but it isn’t a good time to speculate right now,” Kaine said Thursday morning. “We have faith that the NTSB will provide the answers about this.”

Wednesday night’s midair collision over the Potomac River is the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed in New York, killing all 260 people on board.

Just two months after the 9/11 terrorist attack, American Airlines Flight 587 plummeted into Belle Harbor, Queens. Despite the initial concerns, the National Transportation Safety Board found no evidence of sabotage. It was the highest death toll for any single airliner crash in US history. All 260 people on board were killed, along with five people on the ground.

A helicopter flies near other first responders as they work the crash site Thursday in Arlington, Virginia.

There are not believed to be any survivors from the midair collision of an American Airlines passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, and officials are now turning their focus to recovering the bodies of those onboard.

Officials gave an update on the situation on Thursday morning. Here’s what we learned:

CEO of the American Airlines Robert Isom speaks during a press conference on Thursday.

The two pilots aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 were not newcomers to complex commercial flight, the company’s CEO said.

“These are experienced pilots,” said Robert Isom. “I know that the captain had … almost six years with PSA (Airlines), and the first officer almost two years.”

PSA Airlines which operates Flight 5342 is a regional airline that is wholly owned and operated by American Airlines.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy did not have information available Thursday morning on the flight record of the personnel in the Blackhawk helicopter, but said the fact that it was classified as a training mission does not mean they were inexperienced.

“We call these missions that are flown in the DC area as our pilots are getting hours and experience training missions,” said Duffy, “so don’t read into that how many hours the pilots on the military aircraft had.”

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy speaks during a press conference in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday.

The midair collision Wednesday night of an American Airlines passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter was “preventable,” the newly sworn-in Transportation secretary told reporters Thursday morning.

“We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but … what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said.

The secretary was agreeing with President Donald Trump’s post on social media Wednesday that the collision “should have been prevented.”

Rescue boats search the Potomac River on Thursday after a plane crashed into the river.

Officials are confident they will recover all bodies of those killed in the midair collision Wednesday night of an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said.

Sixty-seven people are believed dead: 64 aboard the passenger jet and three on the US Army Black Hawk helicopter. Twenty-eight bodies had been recovered already, he said Thursday morning.

“I’m confident that we will do that, and that will take us a little bit of time, though. It may involve some more equipment,” Donnelly said of the recovery effort, adding the next phase of the operation would be led by the National Transportation Safety Board.

A sign indicates that the Reagan National Airport is currently closed on Thursday, after an American Airlines plane crashed on approach to the airport.

Reagan National Airport, which has been closed to flights since the deadly collision of a commercial jet and a military helicopter, will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, even as the wreckage of the aircraft is still being recovered.

Potter said it will be up to each airline to determine whether some flights may be delayed or canceled going forward, but “all are comfortable” allowing planes to land again.

“The primary runway, 1/19, will be open. It’s away from any activity,” he said. “We’re going to have a secure area around that, so all are comfortable that we can get back to operations.”

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom speaks during a press conference on Thursday.

The CEO of American Airlines seemed to place blame for the midair collision between the American Airlines passenger jet operated by PSA and a US Army Black Hawk on the helicopter.

“At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said Thursday morning.

Both the jet and the helicopter were taking a “standard flight pattern” Wednesday night, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said.

Rescue workers search the Potomac River on Thursday after a plane crashed into the river near Washington, DC.

There are not believed to be any survivors from the midair collision over the Potomac River, and rescuers are now conducting a recovery operation, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said.

“We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” he said in a Thursday morning news conference.

Twenty-seven bodies had been recovered from the passenger jet, and one had been recovered from the military helicopter, Donnelly confirmed.

The wreckage of the American Airlines jet that collided with a military helicopter and plunged into the Potomac River was broken apart, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said.

Duffy said the work to recover the wreckage from the Potomac is underway.

“As that recovery takes place of the fuselage of the aircraft, NTSB is going to start to analyze that aircraft, partner with the FAA with all the information we have to get the best results possible for the American people,” he said.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy speaks during a press conference on Thursday.

Both the American Airlines jet and the military helicopter were taking a “standard flight pattern” last night, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Thursday morning.

“This was a clear night last night; the helicopter was in the standard pattern. If you live in the DC area, you will see helicopters up and down the river,” he said during a news conference.

“This was a standard fight pattern last night as well.”

“The American Airline flight coming in to land was in a standard flight pattern as it was coming into DCA, so this was not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA,” Duffy said.

American Airlines has shared a toll-free number and said family of people who were onboard American Airlines Flight 5342 when it collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport should call for information.

The passenger jet was carrying 64 people and the Black Hawk helicopter had three soldiers on board.

Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a press conference at Reagan National Airport on Thursday.

A press briefing is taking place at Reagan National Airport with Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser on the fatal midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board.

We’ll bring you the latest information from DC officials as we get it.

The figure skaters on board the American Airlines flight that crashed Wednesday evening were returning from the National Development Camp, sports analyst Christine Brennan said Thursday morning.

The camp is largely for youth skaters, she said, many of whom “we would expect to see bubble to the surface, rise up and compete moving forward, even to the 2030 Olympic Games.”

“We don’t yet have numbers, and, of course, we’re not going to give any names out at this point,” Brennan said. “But it appears to look like coaches, young skaters, family members – and it could be quite a large number.”

The athletes had been returning from the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, US Figure Skating said in an earlier statement.

“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” the organization said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”

An eyewitness to the collision of a passenger jet and a military helicopter Wednesday night described the wreckage as a ball of fire as it plunged into the Potomac River.

“Wreckage just went straight down.” he said.

Best lives in an apartment building in Crystal City neighborhood near Reagan National Airport and said he was not surprised to see a lot of air traffic that time of the night.

“We see the police helicopters. We see the military helicopters going back and forth to the bases, the Pentagon, some different areas. You’ve also got Coast Guard helicopters, so a pretty busy airspace,” Best said.

A helicopter aids in search operations in the Potomac River, near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport, on Wednesday

A large-scale search is underway after a midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board near Reagan National Airport, just outside Washington, DC, officials said.

American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.

Here’s what we know:

Collision on final approach: The crash occurred as Flight 5342 prepared for landing. The Black Hawk helicopter was on a training flight at the time of the incident, an official told CNN. Video of the incident shows a massive fireball erupting upon impact, and the two aircraft crashed into the Potomac River. Audio between the helicopter and air traffic control reveals communications were relayed seconds before the crash.

Deaths confirmed as rescue efforts continue: Fatalities have been confirmed, and rescuers have yet to find any survivors in the river, a law enforcement source said. The passenger jet is reportedly in pieces in the water, with the helicopter nearby. Conditions on the river have been described by officials as cold, windy and difficult.

Airport closure: Reagan National Airport is closed until at least 11 a.m. ET Thursday, officials said. A law enforcement source described the atmosphere as a “really somber mood, even at the rescue scene.” At the airport, family members of likely victims have gathered in an airport lounge as officials work to provide updates. Another news conference from authorities is expected at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Figure skating world shaken by tragedy: Several members of the figure skating community were passengers on the jet, US Figure Skating confirmed in a statement to CNN. Two world-champion Russian figure skaters were aboard the passenger plane, according to Russian state news agency TASS. A vigil in Wichita is planned for noon CT.

President weighs in on crash: President Donald Trump described the collision as “a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented” in a social media post. It remains unclear whether his remarks were based on an official briefing.

The fatal midair collision is reviving questions about the addition of more longer-distance flights in and out of DC’s Reagan National airport — a feature that drew sharp opposition during deliberations in May from some Senate Democrats representing the Washington, DC, area.

The senators had warned that increasing the number of long-distance flights could heighten safety and congestion risks, concerns now underscored as Wednesday night’s deadly collision near the airport has intensified scrutiny of operations in the crowded airspace.

The additional flights were included in the sweeping aviation bill approved in May by Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden. The bill was designed to bolster safety measures, strengthen protections for passengers and airline employees and fund upgrades to US airports and air travel infrastructure; it allocates over $105 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration and $738 million to the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2024 through 2028.

“The proposal (of additional flights) flies in the face of known safety concerns and known congestion concerns,” US Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland had argued before the bill passed.

Reagan National is “pressed to the gills,” handling 25 million passengers annually when it should accommodate just 15 million a year, US Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia had argued on the Senate floor.

The push to add five daily round-trip flights beyond the 1,250-mile perimeter limit was driven by “convenience” for lawmakers flying in and out of Reagan National, Van Hollen had said. The airport is far closer to the Capitol than Dulles International Airport in Virginia or Baltimore/Washington International Airport in Maryland.

The location of Reagan National makes flying into that airport one of the most complicated jobs for commercial pilots flying in the US, a former FAA accident investigator said.

“Not only is it (one of) the busiest, it’s the most complex airport,” said David Soucie, CNN Safety Analyst. “There’s military and commercial together. There’s flight restrictions on where you can fly, what kind of approaches you have to make, and there’s demands on how quickly those airplanes have to come in and out.”

The airport sits just across an interstate from the Pentagon and across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, which has tightly restricted airspace.

Still, the complicated dance of coordinating planes in tight paths over large cities with multiple airports is something the US historically has done very effectively, Australian aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas told CNN.

“The United States is the masters, you are the masters of complicated airspace,” said Thomas.

“You can’t get into the DCA airspace unless you are totally under air traffic control,” Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the US Transportation Department, told CNN. “Anybody operating in that had to coordinate with air traffic control. And we know that happened because air traffic control talked to the helicopter.”

Air traffic control audio from moments before the Wednesday collision indicates the US Army Black Hawk was aware of another nearby aircraft – what happened next, though, is a mystery.

“There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you have too many aircraft in a very close airspace –– and that is DCA,” Schiavo added. “DCA is just a very busy airport that opened decades ago. It was supposed to close because it was too close to the city.”

Emergency response units assess the wreckage of the helicopter early Thursday morning.

Experts from around the world weighing in on Wednesday’s aircraft collision are trying to make sense of how DC’s sophisticated airspace system led to the evening tragedy.

“It’s very clear, looking at the flight paths of the aircraft and the radio transmissions, that the Black Hawk was asked to maintain visual separation from Flight 5342 for some reason –– and we don’t know that reason,” Tony Stanton from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority told CNN’s Omar Jimenez.

“That’s one of the areas that I would be interested in examining as an investigator. What caused the Black Hawk crew not to comply with the clearance they were provided?”

The US Army Black Hawk that collided was on a training flight at the time of the incident, Joint Task Force-National Capital Region media chief Heather Chairez told CNN Wednesday.

Stanton added that, unlike many other ATC towers, Washington Tower has two radio frequencies used to communicate with airborne aircraft –– with one frequency used for rotorcraft helicopters and another one for other aircraft.

“So in this circumstance, you would have had the Black Hawk talking to the tower on one frequency, and you would have had Flight 5342 talking to the tower on another frequency,” he said, adding that the crash may have resulted in “a barrier of situational awareness between the pilots.”

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser at Reagan National Airport early Thursday morning.

A press briefing will take place at 7:30 a.m. at Reagan National Airport, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a post on X. The briefing will be livestreamed on the platform.

The aircraft involved in a collision near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, on Wednesday have been identified as a Canadair Regional Jet 700, operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines, and a US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

The Canadair Regional Jet 700 (CRJ700) was built in Canada by Bombardier. The single-aisle aircraft can seat between 68 and 78 passengers. The American Airlines website says its CRJ700s seat 65 people in three classes.

The CRJ700 is powered by two jet engines mounted on the rear of the aircraft. The CRJ-700 series first flew in 1999, with production of the jet ending in 2020. The aircraft affected, tail number N709PS, was built in 2004, according to FAA records.

The US Army UH-60 Black Hawk is built by Sikorsky Aircraft, part of defense giant Lockheed Martin. It’s powered by twin turbine engines and can carry up to 12 troops in a combat configuration, according to the manufacturer.

More than 5,000 Black Hawks are in service across the US military branches and with 35 other nations around the world, Lockheed Martin says.

Two world-champion Russian figure skaters were onboard the passenger plane that collided with a US Army helicopter near Washington, DC, Russian state media outlet TASS said, citing a source.

US Figure Skating, the organization overseeing the sport nationwide, confirmed that “several members” of its community were aboard the American Airlines flight which collided with a helicopter in Washington, DC, Wednesday evening.

“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas,” the organization said in a statement to CNN.

The mid-air collision between a passenger plane and military helicopter in DC Wednesday night is reminiscent of a similar disaster that took place 43 years ago.

On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90, departing Washington National Airport for Fort Lauderdale, struck the 14th Street Bridge before crashing into then ice-capped Potomac River shortly after takeoff.

Seventy of the 74 passengers on board died, along with four of the five crew members, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Four motorists on the bridge also died.

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board at the time determined that the accident was caused by multiple failures –– including the crew’s failure to remove excessive ice and snow on the wings and engine of the plane during ground operation.

The investigation held the captain of the flight accountable for failing to reject takeoff even after he was made aware of the unfavorable conditions.

Correction: A previous version of this post misstated the number of fatalities in the 1982 crash. Seventy-eight people were killed, while five on board survived.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, late into the night on Wednesday.

Emergency crews are battling icy, choppy waters overnight near Reagan National Airport after a devastating crash over the Potomac River, and the first responders participating in ongoing search-and-rescue efforts are facing both difficult conditions and emotions, according to CNN’s Gabe Cohen.

“I spoke with a law enforcement source just a few minutes ago,” Cohen said. “He told me that there’s a really somber mood, even at the rescue scene. It feels — certainly not officially — but that we’re sort of moving from that ‘search-and-rescue operation’ into a recovery effort. They have pulled several bodies out. There are fatalities confirmed at the scene. And now we’re just waiting for answers.”

At the airport, family members of likely victims have gathered in an airport lounge as officials work to provide updates. The airport remains shut down until 11 a.m. Thursday.

“While officials wouldn’t give us any information on the recovery, potential survivors, or the fatality count, you could tell it was not good and that, barring a miracle, they were looking at potentially the worst disaster here in Washington in decades,” Cohen said.

The temperature at Reagan National Airport is 45 degrees, with breezy yet clear conditions as search efforts are ongoing across the Potomac River. Temperatures will continue to drop through the overnight hours, to just below freezing by 6 a.m.

The high temperature on Thursday will climb to around 50 degrees with clear skies expected through the morning hours and increasing clouds through the afternoon.

By the end of the day on Thursday, rainfall from an approaching storm is expected to begin to impact the area. A slight chance of a shower is expected by 9 p.m., increasing to a steady rain by 1 a.m. Friday. Rainfall and gusty winds are expected most of the day with peak wind and rain expected between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Current forecasts call for about an inch of rainfall and gusts to 22 mph.

By Friday night, rainfall will begin to dwindle for the Washington, DC, area before largely wrapping up by early Saturday morning. Skies will clear up through the day on Saturday with temperatures climbing only to 48.

No rainfall is expected to end the weekend and through early next week with high temperatures in the upper 40s expected on Sunday and the lower 60s on Monday.

Water temperatures are expected to stay in the mid 30s every day through this time.

Air traffic controller audio obtained by CNN from LiveATC.net captures the moment the air traffic control operators ask the helicopter if the commercial flight operated by PSA Airlines is in sight.

An air traffic controller said, “PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?”

The controller then said, “PAT 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”

Additional air traffic control audio shortly before the collision captures the helicopter pilot saying, “PAT 2-5 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation.”

Less than 13 seconds later, the audio then captured audible gasps, including a loud “oooh” in the background apparently from the tower, at the moment of the crash.

The tower then alerted another pilot of what has taken place.

“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach end of 3-3. We are going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future if you want to go back to the gate. Highly suggest you guys coordinate with the company. Let me know what you want to do,” the controller says, referencing runway 33.

The audio also revealed that another pilot had seen the incident and confirmed with an air traffic controller.

Another pilot could be heard saying, “Yeah, we were on short final, and we saw flares from the opposite side of the Potomac.”

An approach controller later said, “Apparently both aircraft involved are in the river, a search and rescue will be ongoing.”

A number of other aircraft made plans to divert to other airports following the incident as flights at DCA were halted.

This story has been updated with additional information.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took to social media to express his condolences over the “heartbreaking and tragic” crash that took place over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport Wednesday evening.

The New York Democrat said he was “praying hard for the passengers, crew, servicemembers and first responders.”

“Deeply saddened by the heartbreaking and tragic crash at DCA. Praying hard for the passengers, crew, servicemembers and first responders,” he wrote.

Approximately 19 aircraft were in the air at the time of the crash near Reagan National Airport and were diverted to Dulles International Airport, about 20 miles west.

There were 858 flights scheduled to take off and land at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, and 869 flights were scheduled to take off and land Thursday.

Reagan National Airport will be closed until at least 11 a.m. ET Thursday, officials said.

There will be a citywide prayer vigil in Wichita on Thursday, according to the Kansas Aviation Museum.

The vigil at 12 p.m. CT will be in the Wichita City Council Chambers, the museum said in a Facebook post.

“All are welcome to join in prayer and support for our community,” the post said.

“Tonight, our community and nation has suffered an enormous tragedy as American Airlines flight 5342 and a military helicopter collided in air. While we await news on the 64 souls on board the AA flight and 3 onboard the helicopter, our thoughts and prayers are with all affected by this tragedy as well as the aviation community,” the museum added.

Emergency response units assess wreckage in the Potomac River early Thursday morning.

DC’s Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly Sr. said that all search-and-rescue efforts taking place right now are in the water and that conditions are “dangerous.”

He added that recovery efforts will likely take several days.

“If you can imagine, the river is a large black spot at night with no lights on it, except for a few buoy lights,” he said.

Donnelly said he expected the investigation into the collision to take longer.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office dive team is assisting efforts to locate victims of Wednesday’s plane-helicopter collision in the Potomac River, a bureau spokesperson told CNN.

The FBI Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team (USERT) is comprised of specially trained agents stationed across the country who are tasked with searching for and recovering submerged evidence.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser addresses the media.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed early Thursday that “both aircraft are in the water,” and that 64 people were aboard the American Airlines plane and three were in the military helicopter.

“The focus now is rescuing people, and that’s what all of our personnel are focused on,” Bowser said.

She declined to comment on recovery efforts or the investigation, which she said will be led by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Earlier, American Airlines told CNN 60 passengers and four crew members were on board the plane that crashed.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CEO Jack Potter said Thursday that “we did have folks who were at the airport who were there to pick up loved ones,” adding that American Airlines has set up a center in the airport for friends and families.

Sen. Jerry Moran speaks at a media briefing.

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran — who said he lobbied with other lawmakers for American Airlines to add a direct, nonstop flight route from Wichita to Washington’s DCA — described the crash as “a very personal circumstance” for Kansans during a press conference early Thursday.

“It is certainly true that in Kansas and in Wichita in particular, we’re going to know people who are on this flight, know their family members, know somebody. So this is a very personal circumstance as well as an official response,” Moran said, referring to a service that has only been operating for about a year.

He pledged to support rescue efforts and ensure Congress is “engaged in what needs to take place” as the investigation unfolds.

Moran said he has spoken with the National Transportation Safety Board, the White House, the Department of Defense and American Airlines, adding, “there is all of us pulling together for the best outcome possible.”

Reagan National Airport will be closed until at least 11 a.m. ET Thursday, Jack Potter, the president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said at a news conference.

There is no impact to the Washington area’s other airport, Dulles International Airport, he said.

Emergency response units conduct search operations in the Potomac River on Wednesday.

There are currently about 300 responders working in a search-and-rescue operation at the Potomac River, DC Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly Sr. said at a press conference at Reagan National Airport.

“At 8:58 (p.m.), the first units arrived on the scene and found an aircraft in the water and began rescue operations. This incident has grown,” he said. An alert was first sounded at 8:48 p.m., he said.

Donnelly described conditions as dark, cold and windy.

President Donald Trump said early Thursday morning that the midair collision between a US Army helicopter and American Airlines passenger plane was a “bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.”

“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!” the president continued.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s post was based on information on which he had been officially briefed. CNN is reaching out to the White House.

The Potomac River has an average depth of 24 feet, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Averaging approximately 400 miles long from its headwaters at North Branch to its mouth in the Chesapeake Bay, the USGS said on their website.

The Potomac ranks 48th among 135 US rivers that are more than 100 miles long, it added.

The deepest point near Morgantown, Maryland, is 107 feet, while the navigable channel depth is 24 feet, which is maintained for 108 miles in the tidal portion of the river, downstream from Washington, DC, the website said.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser addresses the media, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport early Thursday morning.

Authorities are holding a news conference on Wednesday’s collision between an American Airlines passenger plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC.

The plane, American Airlines Flight 5342 with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the airline. Three soldiers were on board the helicopter, which was a training flight, officials say.

A search and rescue boat operates along the Potomac River on Wednesday.

The search and rescue operation for survivors of Wednesday’s plane collision is becoming more grim, according to a law enforcement source.

The source described images from rescuers as “stunning,” saying it was hard to make out what they were seeing. The plane, they said, was in several pieces.

Two law enforcement sources and a source familiar with the situation confirm that no survivors had been recovered at this point.

Officials are preparing for this to be the deadliest disaster in DC in decades since an Air Florida Flight crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, connecting Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, DC, in 1982, according to the source.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser will be part of the 12:30 a.m. presser, her team says.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom says he will be heading to Washington, DC, to assess the midair plane collision and support employees.

“Members of our Go Team will be on their way to Washington DC and I’ll be heading there shortly as well,” Isom said in a video message.

The airline has also set up a helpline for friends and family at 1-800-679-8215.

Newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he has spoken to local and state leaders regarding the collision involving a passenger jet near Reagan National Airport.

Duffy said he has instructed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation (USDOT) to “provide full support” to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other agencies involved in the response.

“I have directed @USDOT and @FAANews to provide full support to the @NTSB and all responding agencies and authorities,” Duffy wrote in a post on X.

“I have spoken with Washington DC Mayor Bowser, Virginia Governor Youngkin, Kansas Governor Kelly and NTSB Chair Homendy to offer our agency’s complete assistance,” he added. “Thank you to all first responders who are on the scene and conducting the search and rescue operations.”

People walk through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday.

Reagan National Airport will remain closed until at least Friday at 5 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

All takeoffs and landings have been halted at Reagan National Airport after a passenger aircraft carrying 64 people collided with a US Army helicopter as it approached a runway at the airport, according to the FAA and defense officials.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority released a statement describing response to the collision.

Flight boards at the airport that usually show departure and arrival times displayed an emergency message on Wednesday saying, “Due to an emergency situation, all flights are being held on the airfield. Additional information will be available as received. For customers on departing flights, please check with your airline representative.”

CNN’s Audrey Ash and Amanda Jackson contributed reporting to this post.

Emergency personnel are conducting search and rescue efforts in the freezing Potomac River after a passenger plane collided with a US Army helicopter midair near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC Wednesday night.

American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA airlines, was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National Airport. The US Army Black Hawk helicopter was on a training flight at the time of the incident.

There were 64 people on board the plane and three soldiers in the Army helicopter. A law enforcement source said there have been confirmed fatalities, but did not specify how many.

Here’s what it looks like near the river as search operations continue:

A person looks on from the bank of the Potomac River as emergency service vehicles operate near the site of the crash.

A search and rescue boat operates along the Potomac River.

Onlookers watch as emergency crews respond to the crash site.

The US Capitol is visible as emergency response units assemble near the site of the crash.

Emergency crews respond to the crash site.

A helicopter uses its searchlight as it flies above the Potomac River during search operations.

The latest fatal commercial plane crashes in the United States include:

US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leadership said in a statement Wednesday they are monitoring the passenger jet collision near Reagan National Airport.

“As we await more information from the ongoing response, our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, and their families, and the first responders on the scene,” the statement said.

Fatalities have been confirmed and rescuers have not yet pulled any survivors from the water, a law enforcement source says. The rescue efforts continue in the Washington, DC, area following the crash.

The source says the plane is in pieces in the water and the helicopter is in the water nearby.

In an interview with CNN affiliate WUSA, Hamaad Raza said his wife was on the plane that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River.

Hamaad Raza said his wife was on the plane that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River.

“I’m just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now as we speak,” Raza told CNN affiliate WUSA.

Raza said he received a text message from his wife shortly before the plane was supposed to land.

“She texted me that they were landing in 20 minutes,” he said. But his texts back to her did not get delivered.

That was when he realized that something could be wrong, he told WUSA.

The US Army Black Hawk that collided with a passenger plane on Wednesday was on a training flight at the time of the incident, Joint Task Force-National Capital Region media chief Heather Chairez tells CNN.

The 12th Aviation Battalion, based out of Fort Belvoir, provides helicopter transportation and “technical rescue support” to the National Capital Region.

It’s not clear where the Black Hawk took off from before the collision.

The Air Line Pilots Association says it is sending an accident investigation team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board with its probe of the collision.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson issued a statement on X Wednesday night saying he was “deeply saddened” by the passenger aircraft colliding midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

The FBI Washington Field Office’s National Capital Response Squad is responding to the midair collision in support of law enforcement and public safety partners.

A helicopter assists with search and rescue operations over the Potomac River on Wednesday.

Witnesses have described a large-scale search and rescue operation ongoing over the Potomac River shortly after a passenger plane crashed with a US Army helicopter.

“The air is filled with helicopters searching, boats in the water and police on the ground,” Ashlyn Finch said in a Facebook post.

She added that the “air is horrible smelling with fuel.”

Video taken by Washington, DC resident Roy Best shows a large number of rescue services at the scene of the collision.

Best, a federal employee, was on his building’s rooftop next to the airport when the collision happened.

From his rooftop, Best said he can see ongoing rescue operations, but it is too dark to describe exactly what they are doing.

The Association of Flight Attendants, a union representing 55,000 flight attendants, said in a statement that two of its members were on board flight 5342.

“Our union is responding to the tragic midair collision of PSA Flight 5342 with a military helicopter. Two AFA Flight Attendants were crewing the flight,” the statement read.

“While we mobilize to support the families and crews directly affected by this incident, we are also sending strength to all first responders doing everything they can to bring survivors to safety.”

“Our AFA EAP is mobilizing to provide support to all PSA Flight Attendants and anyone affected by this tragic event. AFA EAP is available for any Flight Attendant or family member in need, 800-424-2406. Please only call if you need assistance. We will set up a line for messages of support from the public and share that tomorrow morning”

“Let us all stay focused on saving lives.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says that the department is “deploying every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts” in response to the collision between a passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.

“We are actively monitoring the situation & stand ready to support local responders,” she wrote on social media. Noem expressed her concern and prayers for the victims and first responders.

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Wednesday that first responders from across Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland “mobilized quickly” to assist with search-and-rescue efforts following the plane-helicopter collision into the Potomac River.

“I have been briefed by our Emergency Management team and Virginia State Police about the tragic crash at Reagan National Airport tonight. Extensive resources are fully supporting the search and rescue efforts,” Youngkin wrote on X.

“First responders from across Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland mobilized quickly. I ask everyone to pray for the passengers, crews, their families, and brave first responders,” he continued.

American Airlines issued a hotline for family members and loved ones of those onboard the Flight 5342, collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

“If you believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342, call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215,” the airline said in a statement.

“Those calling from outside the U.S. can visit news.aa.com for additional phone numbers. Family members in Canada, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands can call 800-679-8215 directly,” it added.

The airline said it will continue to release information about the incident as it becomes available.

A police car drives past Reagan Washington National Airport, as seen from Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday.

Emergency vehicles could be seen rushing to the scene of the aircraft collision in Washington, DC on Wednesday night.

Sarah Fishel, who lives in a condo close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, said she heard loud sirens and began recording around 9:10 p.m. ET.

“I ran to the roof and immediately saw the response,” she told CNN.

Fishel said the response to the crash was “almost instant.”

Maryland State Police have deployed divers to the scene of the plane-helicopter crash in the Potomac River, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday night.

Moore said the Maryland Department of Emergency Management has raised its Emergency Operations Center to “Enhanced” status in support.

President Donald Trump said he was “fully briefed” on the collision between a passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.

Trump added that he was “monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”

“May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders,” Trump’s statement read.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser offered her prayers to “everyone involved” after a passenger jet collided with an Army Black hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.

“Our prayers are with everyone involved, and we will continue to keep the public updated as more information becomes available,” Bowser said in an X post.

Fire trucks are seen at Gravelly Point along the Potomac River on Wednesday.

Dozens of firefighters are engaged in dive operations at the site of the plane crash in the Potomac River, according to a union official.

“Search and rescue efforts are underway in the Potomac River,” Edward Kelly, the general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters said on X.

“They’re doing everything they can to bring survivors to safety. Our prayers are with everyone affected,” he said.

Video shot by Washington, DC resident Abadi Ismail shows rescue operations over the Potomac River following the mid-air collision of an American Airlines passenger plane with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter.

In the video, helicopters can be seen flying near the scene of the crash with search lights.

“I heard two unusual bangs, something I’ve never heard of,” Abadi, age 38, told CNN, adding that it “kind of sounded like a warzone.”

He immediately rushed to his window after hearing the sounds but said he saw “nothing but a little bit of smoke.”

Abadi said rescue helicopters and boats have now “lit up the area.”

The incident happened around 8:50 p.m. ET, he said.

The US Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger aircraft had a crew of three and was not carrying any VIPs, according to a US defense official.

Senior Army officials often use Black Hawks for travel in the Washington, DC, area.

The US Army confirmed the plane came out of Fort Belvoir, an Army post in Virginia.

The National Weather Service has issued a warning about the dangers of plunging into the Potomac River, where water temperatures are currently hovering around 35 degrees, despite air temperatures in Washington, DC, being near 50 degrees.

Sudden immersion in such frigid water, known as cold shock, can trigger immediate physiological responses such as uncontrolled gasping, rapid breathing or hyperventilation, according to the National Weather Service.

“Cold shock can cause an immediate panic, fear or stress reaction that then impairs clear thinking and decision making,” the weather service cautioned. These reactions, coupled with a spike in heart rate and blood pressure, can heighten the risk of heart failure or stroke, particularly for vulnerable individuals.

The dangers escalate with prolonged exposure. Hypothermia begins when the body’s core temperature falls to 95 degrees, a process that can start within moments in water this cold. In 35-degree water, individuals may lose dexterity in as little as three minutes, with unconsciousness occurring within 15 to 30 minutes, according to the weather service. Survival times in such conditions are estimated to range between 30 and 90 minutes.

“Since water conducts body heat away up to 26 times faster than air of the same temperature, the cold water rapidly causes extremities to become numb, weakening the ability of muscles to work effectively,” the weather service warned, underscoring the life-threatening risks posed by the river’s near-freezing temperatures.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Department of Defense is monitoring developments after a US Army helicopter collided with a passenger plane on approach to Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC.

“DoD actively monitoring. Poised to assist if needed. Prayers for all involved,” Hegseth said in a post on X.

A police rescue team drives to the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

Nearly every law enforcement agency in the area is working on search and rescue efforts after the plane collision near Reagan National Airport Wednesday, a law enforcement source told CNN.

Crews are frantically searching for survivors in the Potomac River, the source said.

Some background: American Airlines told CNN Wednesday night there were 60 passengers and four crew on board the flight that collided on approach to Reagan National Airport.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly responded to Wednesday night’s plane crash.

“I am aware that a plane inbound from Wichita was involved in a crash at Reagan National Airport. I am actively in contact with authorities. My thoughts go out to those involved. I will share more information as it becomes available,” Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said in a post on X.

Ari Schulman told CNN he was driving home when he witnessed the plane crash near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

Everything seemed normal as he drove along the George Washington Parkway, the highway that runs by the airport, he said. As he watched the planes coming in to land, one in particular caught his eye.

Three seconds later, the plane “was banked all the way to the right… past 90 degrees.”

“I could see the underside of it. It was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it,” he said, adding that “it was high off the ground.”

Schulman said following that, everything went dark.

Schulman said everything happened so quickly.

“I didn’t see the plane hit the ground. I didn’t see flames or an explosion or smoke. I didn’t see emergency lights. It was so brief,” he said.

‘I saw sparks flying’: Witness describes moment of crash

03:09 - Source: CNN

Newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he is monitoring developments related to the plane crash in the Potomac River at the Federal Aviation Administration’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

He was ceremonially sworn in just a few hours ago after the Senate voted Tuesday to confirm his nomination.

“I am on site at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation,” Duffy posted on X.

This post has been updated with additional details about Duffy’s confirmation.

The general manager of Washington’s transit authority announced on X that the agency is mobilizing resources to support rescue efforts and assist travelers affected by flight diversions.

The response includes sending warming buses and extending transit services, including running additional trains, to accommodate passengers rerouted to Dulles International Airport.

American Airlines told CNN Wednesday night there were 60 passengers and four crew on board the flight that collided on approach to Reagan National Airport.

A passenger plane carrying roughly 60 people collided with a military helicopter, Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas wrote in a post on X.

Marshall said he is in touch with “local and national authorities asking for answers and will continue to demand more information on how this unfolded.”

Emergency services operate at Gravelly Point in Arlington, Virginia, after a passenger flight collided with a helicopter on Wednesday.

American Airlines says they’re “aware of reports” that Flight 5342, operated by PSA, has been involved in an incident.

PSA is a regional airline that operates flights on behalf of American.

Vice President JD Vance addressed the midair collision near the Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night, calling on the nation to unite in prayer as the administration monitors the situation.

The collision, which reportedly involved a military helicopter and a regional jet, has triggered an emergency response from federal and local authorities. While details about the incident remain limited, rescue and recovery efforts are underway as officials work to assess the situation.

A US Army Black Hawk (H-60) helicopter collided with passenger aircraft near Washington on Wednesday, according to two US defense officials.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump has been informed about an incident involving a military helicopter and a regional jet near Washington DC’s DCA airport, during a brief interview with Sean Hannity on FOX News Wednesday night.

“There are many agencies that are working on this response right now, both federal and local law enforcement are working together on the ground, to try to save as many lives as possible. And the President will continue to monitor this situation,” Leavitt said, urging the public to remain calm and follow guidance from law enforcement as they work to respond to the situation.

“The thoughts and prayers of the entire Trump administration are with all those involved,” Leavitt said.

Emergency responders near the Potomac River on Wednesday.

DC Police said it was coordinating a search and rescue in the Potomac River along with other agencies, after receiving reports of a passenger plane crash.

In a joint statement with DC Fire and MPD, police said “there is no confirmed information on casualties at this time.”

The statement said police began receiving calls at 8:53 p.m. local time about “an aircraft crash above the Potomac River.”

Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall of Kansas say they are in contact with authorities after news that the plane that crashed in the Potomac River was coming from Wichita, Kansas.

Marshall said he has “seen the reports of a collision with a D.C. helicopter and an inbound flight from Wichita, KS.”

A passenger aircraft that crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC, collided midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The plane was Flight 5342 for American Airlines and was a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet. It departed from Wichita, Kansas, earlier on Wednesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, along with the FAA.

The FAA said its statement is based on preliminary information and subject to change.

DC Police said it was not an Metropolitan Police Department helicopter involved in this incident.

“MPD’s helicopter is NOT involved in this incident and is currently assisting in the multi-agency response,” MPD said.

“Learning that a plane inbound from Kansas was involved in a crash at DCA. I am in contact with authorities. Please join me in praying for all involved,” Sen. Jerry Moran said on X,

Reagan National Airport is closed due to an “emergency,” according to an FAA advisory.

The advisory comes after news that a small plane crashed into the Potomac River near the airport outside of Washington, DC, according to DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

A screengrab taken from a video shows first responders at the site of a plane crash in the Potomac River on Wednesday.

A passenger aircraft has crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC, according to DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

Fireboats are on the scene.