Three unnamed soldiers—a captain, staff sergeant, and chief warrant officer—who died when their Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines flight 5342 near the District of Columbia Wednesday were capable of safely flying the aircraft, according to military officials.
Jonathan Koziol, Army Aviation Directorate chief of staff, told reporters Thursday that crewmembers were on a familiar flight path. Koziol said the instructor pilot leading the training mission had approximately 1,000 flight hours, and the co-pilot had about 500 hours.
"They are very experienced. The instructor pilot was flying the aircraft with a fellow pilot in command, so both of those crew members can manage that aircraft by themselves," he said. "Even the crew chief in the back has been in the unit for a very long time, very familiar with the area, very familiar with the routing structure."
Just one day before an Army helicopter crashed into an American Airlines passenger jet near Washington D.C., another airliner was forced to avoid a military aircraft in the same area.
Air traffic control logs show an Embraer E-175—a jet built for short-range flights that can hold approximately 80 passengers—was cleared to land at Reagan National Airport and had to execute a maneuver to avoid colliding with the helicopter on Jan. 28.
The plane’s automatic systems reportedly initiated a so-called “resolution advisory” which is designed to avoid traffic, causing the aircraft to miss the runway and make another descent.
The Chinese embassy in the United States said on Thursday that two Chinese nationals died in the American Airlines collision with a Black Hawk helicopter.
The Chinese side asked the United States to confirm the information by officially notifying Beijing, and provide support to the victims’ families.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced Jan. 30 that both flight data recorders were recovered from the American Airlines plane that crashed Wednesday evening near Washington, D.C.
“NTSB investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane involved in yesterday’s midair collision at DCA,” National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Peter Knudson said. “The recorders are at the NTSB labs for evaluation.”
Known as "black boxes," the devices store logistical data and voice recordings from the cockpit.
President Donald Trump signed an aviation safety memorandum on Jan. 30 to reverse hiring practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion agendas for air traffic controllers and other transportation officials.
“We are going to have the most competent people in the country in our control towers,” Trump said. “For an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest.”
The president reiterated during a morning briefing, and later while signing the memo, that the government will prioritize competence, and that all decisions will be made in a nondiscriminatory manner that ensures the person most qualified for the position is selected during the hiring process.
Attention has turned to the flight altitude of the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport on the night of Jan. 29.
The accident—the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001—occurred at about 9 p.m. ET. All 64 people aboard the jet, along with the three military officers in the helicopter, perished. Based on flight data that has yet to be independently verified, the helicopter was operating at roughly 300 feet above the ground at the time of the collision.
During a Jan. 30 White House briefing, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that elevation played a role in the incident.
President Donald Trump said on Jan. 30 that he intends to meet with the families of the victims of Wednesday night’s plane–helicopter collision.
“I will be meeting with some people that were very badly hurt, with the family members,” Trump said.
He declined to comment if he had already spoken with any of the families, or to give any further information when asked about the victim’s identities.
The Army helicopter’s “annual proficiency training flight" on Wednesday night, as described by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, should not have been allowed in the first place, a veteran pilot told The Epoch Times.
Juan Browne, a pilot for a major U.S. airline, said the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should stop allowing military training exercises so close to civilian flights.
“Because this kind of procedure, though it’s been going on for years, is kind of an accident waiting to happen,” Browne said.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly told reporters on Thursday evening that state officials expect American Airlines to release the names of the victims of Flight 5342 sometime on Friday.
Kelly said the National Transportation Committee Board informed her that some plane passengers were from overseas, and their family members have not yet been notified.
“They needed to get in touch with those families over there, but they expected that we'd likely have the manifest sometime tomorrow afternoon,” Kelly said.
President Donald Trump told reporters he was unaware of an alleged staff shortage at air traffic control during Wednesday night’s plane and helicopter collision that resulted in 67 deaths.
“Well, that's part of competence, right there,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked if the airport was understaffed. “Competence would be you're not gonna have a shortage.”
The president's comments follow a report by The Associated Press alleging that staffing levels at Ronald Reagan National Airport’s control tower were “not normal” at the time of the crash.
Juan Browne, a pilot for a major U.S. airline, told The Epoch Times that the airplane and helicopter likely would have had traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS) installed. A TCAS alerts pilots of incoming air traffic and tells them to “either climb or stand to avoid each other,” but it won’t advise taking left or right turns to avoid a collision, Browne said.
The problem is that TCAS does not issue those advisories below 1,000 feet above the ground.
At that altitude, “you are much too close to the ground to be issued a descending resolution advisory because you’re just going to run right into the water or the ground,” Browne explained.
WASHINGTON—Scott Seeberger, a commercial airline and former military pilot, says that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is grappling with significant challenges caused by staffing shortages, which, in turn, contribute to increased fatigue among air traffic controllers.
“I think the FAA right now is so understaffed,” Seeberger told The Epoch Times. “In that airspace around Washington, because it's just so dense, everything has to work just right. … And sadly, that didn't take place last night.”
He also noted that air traffic controllers face the same challenges pilots do, including long days that can lead to fatigue.
Timothy Lilley identified his son, 28-year-old Sam Lilley, as one of the two pilots killed in a collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday evening.
Timothy Lilley, a former Army helicopter pilot, believes that the commercial plane piloted by his son followed procedure, and suggested that the military helicopter likely made the error that led to the deadly crash.
"I was a helicopter pilot in the Army for 20 years," Lilley said in an interview with FOX 5 Atlanta. “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.
J. Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said the evidence does not indicate that there was time for emergency measures to be deployed during Wednesday night’s plane and helicopter collision.
“Right now, we’re going through the debris fields. Nothing we’ve seen would indicate that maybe slides or chutes were deployed,” he said. “It was a very quick, rapid impact.”
Inman said the NTSB is still working to verify that information.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said the flight data recorders, commonly known as ‘black boxes,” have not yet been recovered from the site of last night’s midair collision.
“We know they're there. They are underwater. This is not unusual for the NTSB. We have many times recovered flight data recorders in water,” she said at a Thursday afternoon press conference.
“We have our lab right here … it's about a mile from the NTSB, so it's not unusual.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced on Thursday that it plans to release its preliminary report on the Jan. 29 passenger plane–helicopter crash within 30 days.
NTSB member J. Todd Inman said the report will be issued “once we've completed all of our fact-finding and investigation.”
Inman said it was still too early to determine probable cause for the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said during a Jan. 30 press briefing at Reagan National Airport that it will brief families of victims once they arrive.
The agency said it will start its investigation of the deadly collision after first responders complete their work. The agency plans to release its preliminary report within 30 days.
NTSB member Todd Inman said that “family assistance specialists are already working closely with local officials and others to help assist them in their efforts to support everyone that's affected by this accident.”
The Russian Embassy in the United States has released a statement of condolence over the Jan. 29 plane crash, thanking the U.S. State Department for its “constant contact” and “readiness to help.“
“We were especially saddened to learn from the White House that there were Russian citizens on board the airliner,” the statement reads.
Although the full list of victims has not yet been revealed, authorities say the plane was carrying members of the professional ice skating community, including some Russian citizens. Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, 1994 world figure skating pairs champions, are confirmed to be among those who died in the crash.
A total of 14 members of the figure skating community were among those likely or confirmed killed in the passenger plane–helicopter midair collision near Washington on Wednesday evening.
The collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport occurred between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter and is believed to have killed all 67 passengers and crew on both aircraft.
Two teenage figure skaters, as well as their mothers, were among the passengers on the flight returning from the U.S. Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Two victims of Wednesday evening's American Airlines midair collision were former Russian Olympians-turned-figure skating coaches.
The married couple, Evgenia Shishkova, 52, and Vadim Naumov, 55, finished their work at the U.S. national championships in Wichita, Kansas, before heading back to New England.
Shishkova and Naumov won a world championship title together in 1994, and came close to medaling at the Olympics the same year.
Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg issued a statement criticizing President Donald Trump’s comments about diversity hiring potentially contributing to the midair collision between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter.
According to Trump, the diversity hiring practices in aviation could have had an impact on the Jan. 29 accident that occurred near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Buttigieg called Trump’s comments at the Jan. 30 White House press conference “despicable,” saying that “Trump should be leading, not lying.”
Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in Virginia said in a statement on Jan. 30 that some of the victims of the American Airlines midair collision were former students in the district.
“This unimaginable loss has deeply affected our community, and with great sorrow, we have learned that multiple victims were former LCPS students,” the school district stated. It didn't name the former students involved.
The school district offered mental health guidance and support resources for students, family members, and staff impacted by the tragedy.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, addressing the midair collision between an American Airlines passenger plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, said the helicopter crew was taking part in a routine training exercise when the fatal crash occurred.
At a White House press briefing, Hegseth identified the three deceased soldiers by their ranks, listing them as “a young captain,” along with a staff sergeant and a chief warrant officer two.
The defense secretary did not name the three soldiers.
After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this morning that the military helicopter crew was using night vision goggles at some point during the flight, a reporter asked President Donald Trump to confirm that information during a White House press briefing.
“We don't know. We're going to know that pretty soon. It may change your view plan if you do have the night vision,” Trump said, referring to the blinding effects of night vision when directed at aircraft lights.
“So it's very possible that could have happened. That would be, maybe a reason why you wouldn't actually see as well as on a clear night, you can see sometimes better without it.”
President Donald Trump assured Americans that they needn’t be afraid to fly in the wake of the deadly Jan. 29 midair passenger plane collision with a military helicopter.
During a Jan. 30 White House press conference, the president was asked if people should be “hesitant” to fly right now.
Trump answered with a firm “No, not at all.” He went on to say that he is not concerned about his own safety, and that the collision is “something that we don't expect ever to happen again.”
President Donald Trump confirmed in his briefing that a list of all the 64 people from the passenger jet who lost their lives in the midair crash will be released soon.
“If you want a list of the names we can give you ... we'll be giving that very soon, in coordination with American Airlines,” Trump said.
“We're in coordination very strongly, obviously, with the military.”
President Donald Trump, in his remarks concerning the midair collision near Washington, said foreign nationals on the passenger flight had also perished, including several Russian nationals.
“This has really shaken a lot of people,” Trump said, adding that “people, very sadly, from other nations who were on the flight.”
The president vowed the United States will help facilitate the return of the remains of the Russian nationals.
Four members of the Steamfitters union are among those killed in the American Airlines passenger plane crash, according to the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada.
“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 union said in a Jan. 30 statement on social media platform X.
The group said that their 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.”
President Donald Trump said the midair collision near Washington was the result of a “confluence of bad decisions that were made.”
He said that the helicopter should not have been at the same altitude as the American Airlines jet prior to the collision.
“Could have been 1,000 feet higher, it could have been 200 feet lower, but it was exactly at the same height, and somebody should have been able to point that out,” Trump said.
During his briefing on the deadly crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, President Donald Trump put the blame for the accident on the Biden administration’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices.
He accused former President Joe Biden of weakening hiring standards for air traffic controllers, alleging that the Transportation Department under secretary Pete Buttigieg prioritized hiring “[controllers] with severe disabilities.”
“They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA program,” Trump alleged.
Jesse Romo, director of airports at the Wichita, Kansas, airport where the American Airlines passenger flight originated, said in a Thursday morning press conference that there were no known abnormalities with the plane at takeoff: “To our knowledge, everything occurred as normal.”
American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, had 60 passengers and four crew members aboard when it crashed at around 9 p.m. ET Wednesday with a U.S. Army helicopter as it was landing at Reagan National Airport in Crystal City, Virginia, about 5 miles from Washington, officials have said.
The direct flight between Wichita and the Ronald Reagan Airport near Washington began operating about one year ago. According to Wichita Mayor Lily Wu, the first direct flight was taken on Jan. 8, 2024, and included Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas).
President Donald Trump said during a Jan. 30 White House press briefing that he will immediately appoint Christopher Rochelle, a 22-year-veteran of the agency, as acting commissioner to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The president said the agency “must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system.”
President Donald Trump gave a briefing from the White House on Thursday about the deadly crash near Reagan National Airport.
Trump called the crash a “real tragedy” and said local, state, and federal officials have been mobilized for a “massive search and rescue mission.”
“Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions,” he added.
Newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke from his office in Washington on Thursday morning to provide an update on the midair collision near Reagan National Airport.
The Pentagon leader said the Black Hawk helicopter was involved in an “annual proficiency training flight."
Hegseth described the crew as “fairly experienced” and confirmed they were wearing night vision goggles at some point during their flight. He did not disclose the crew members' names.
In his press conference at Reagan National Airport this morning, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the American Airlines jet's flight was routine before it collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter.
“The descent into the landing was not out of the ordinary. And yet, clearly, something happened, and that is what we have to find out next,” he said.
Youngkin said the top priority for state and federal officials is to make “sure that there is a comprehensive recovery of every lost life” while supporting the victims’ families.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. ET today to discuss the crash near Reagan National Airport, a White House official told The Epoch Times.
It will be the president’s first briefing from the White House's Brady press briefing room since he took office for the second time on Jan. 20.
ARLINGTON, Va.—Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin held a press conference at Reagan National Airport on Thursday morning after consulting with officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“I spoke with the chair of the NTSB; they are aggressively moving personnel from all over the country in order to start this investigation,” Youngkin said, adding that the agency is mobilizing a national team.
“We will support them with every ounce of capability that we have at the state level.”
There were likely no survivors during a midair collision between a passenger jet and a helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, the district’s fire chief said in a news conference on Thursday.
“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,” DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly said at the morning press conference.
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
U.S. Figure Skating issued a statement on Thursday morning confirming that some of its members were aboard American Eagle Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter near Washington on Wednesday.
“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 added that they were devastated by the “unspeakable tragedy”.
Speaking alongside other local and national officials in a press conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser noted the cold, dark conditions faced as rescue efforts continue after the midair collision.
John Donnelly, head of DC Fire and EMS, said 300 responders were on the ground in a response that started at 8:58 p.m.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who represents the state from which the American Eagle flight originated, said he had been a frequent passenger on the flight.
At an initial press conference on the collision, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser would not confirm the number of casualties, and told reporters that both the plane and the helicopter involved were in the water.
Bowser told The Epoch Times that Potomac River traffic has been closed and that the incident will not affect either Dulles International Airport or Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, two other frequent destinations for Washington-bound travelers.
On Truth Social, President Donald Trump said in further comments that the incident appeared to be preventable.
"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," he wrote.
“Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
An Epoch Times reporter caught the reactions from drivers on the George Washington Parkway near Wednesday night's collision between a commercial passenger aircraft and a military helicopter above the Potomac River.
No survivors are expected from the crash involving a passenger plane carrying 64 people and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA), DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly Sr. said on Thursday morning.
American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members while making an approach to land at Reagan Airport in Crystal City, Virginia, about five miles from Washington.