The Blackhawk army helicopter that crashed with a passenger plane that came to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, near Washington, on Wednesday night I had three soldiers on board, according to Fox News.
The three soldiers aboard Black Hawk when he crashed have not been publicly identified, but the helicopter did not take any VIP or senior officials, an army official told Fox News.
Fox News also confirmed that the newly jury Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not participate in the incident.
Hegseth was in the White House shortly before the accident and is actively monitoring the situation.
American Airlines plane, the Army helicopter collide outside the Reagan National Airport near Washington DC
A helicopter uses a focus on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on Thursday, January 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The helicopter had left the Davidson Air Base in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and crashed while performing a training mission, army officials said.
The joint base of Anacostia-Bolling is also located on the other side of the river from the Reagan National Airport.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blaze military helicopter, double motor, manufactured by the Sikorsky plane.
Modified versions for the United States Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard have also been developed. The Black Hawk can transport up to 15 people, including two pilots, two crew leaders and two rescue specialists.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that a regional plane Bombardier Crj700 Bombardier Crj700 from PSA collided in the air with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while approaching track 33 at the Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 pm .
American Airlines flight 5342 had left Wichita, Kansas, and had 60 passengers and four crew members on board.
Multiple deaths have been reported, and survivors are not expected, since officials said they have gone from a rescue to a recovery operation.
A ship works on the scene near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on Thursday, January 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The passengers on the flight included a group of artistic skaters, their coaches and relatives returning from a development camp that followed the United States artistic skating championship in Wichita.
“We are devastated by this indescribable tragedy and maintain the families of the victims closely in our hearts,” said the standard figurative in a statement.
American artistic skating members, Russian Olympics aboard the plane at the Reagan National Airport accident
Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin as skaters of Russian figures Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the title of couples in the 1994 World Championship and competed twice in the Olympic Games. The Boston skating club lists them as coaches and their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figurative skater for the United States
The accident occurred in some of the most closely controlled and monitored air spaces in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and Capitol.
The air traffic control audio at the Reagan airport captured flight 5342 that was told to use track 33 until air traffic controllers realize that something has happened and begin to tell other planes that terrify or divert.
Rescue workers respond to the scene on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on Thursday, January 30, 2025, in Arlington, VA. (Photo AP/Julio Cortez)
“Everyone maintains their positions in the field at this time,” says air traffic control. “Fire command. The accident occurred in the river. Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river[.]”
“I was probably in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball, and then he left,” says an air traffic controller. “I have not seen anything since they went out to the river. But it was a crj and a helicopter that hit.”
PSA Airlines is a subsidiary of American Airlines, said the CEO of American Airlines, Robert Isom. The FAA and the National Transportation Security Board (NTSB) are investigating, and the NTSB leads the probe.
The route of the flight that crashed is quite new. The direct flights from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport to the Ronald Reagan National Airport began on January 8, 2024, said Jesse Romo, airport director of the Wichita airport authority.
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“I know that flight. I've flown it several times,” Senator Jerry Moran de Kansas, Kansas Republican, said to Associated Press. He said he expected many people in Wichita to meet people who were on the flight.
“This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
