An American Airlines regional jet went down in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after colliding with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, with no survivors.
Map of the area around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the layout of Runway 33, which the regional American Airlines jet was approaching at the time of the collision with the Army Black Hawk helicopter, according to officials.
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National Transportation Safety Board investigators are on the scene of the crash and plan to have a preliminary report within 30 days, NTSB Board Member Todd Inman said.
Flight recorders have not yet been recovered but the NTSB is "comfortable and confident" that the recorders will be recovered, Inman said.
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
The NTSB does not know enough facts to rule in or out human or mechanical factors at this time, Inman said.
"Our investigative team will be on scene as long as it takes in order to obtain all of the perishable evidence and all the fact finding that is needed to bring us to a conclusion of probable cause," Inman said. "Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened, and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again."
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy added that they do have "substantial" information but do not want to share anything before it’s verified.
10:57
NTSB holds briefing on deadly midair collision over DCFlight recorders have not yet been recovered, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said.
ABCNews.com
Jan 30, 2025, 2:21 PM EST
3 soldiers on Black Hawk were very experienced: Official
The three Army Soldiers aboard the Black Hawk were very experienced, according to an Army official who briefed reporters in a phone briefing.
Jonathan Koziol, a retired Army chief warrant officer with more than 30 years of flight experience, told reporters that the flight was a nighttime qualification flight with an instructor pilot evaluating an experienced pilot on the flight routes that their unit routinely flies day and night around the Potomac River.
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the Army’s Combat Readiness Center at Fort Novosel, Alabama, said that just like all soldiers who must meet regular qualifications for their weapons, Army aviators have to meet annual qualifications, regardless of their flight experience. For aviators, that means flying under different conditions, which could mean flying in daytime or nighttime.
Koziol confirmed that the instructor pilot had more than 1,000 flight hours and that the pilot being evaluated had more than 500 hours. The evaluated pilot was in command of the flight, but if an emergency was to occur the instructor would have taken control of the helicopter.
Koziol said the maximum altitude for this route is 200 feet; the helicopter appeared to be flying at about 350 feet, according to sources.
Part of the unit’s responsibility is to fly VIPs around the D.C. area, and that includes getting them out of the area if "something really bad happens," he said, "so they do need to be able to understand the environment, the air traffic, the routes, to ensure the safe travel of our senior leaders throughout our government."
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.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Koziol described the helicopter flight corridor above the Potomac as "a relatively easy corridor to fly, because you're flying down the center of the river, and it's very easily identifiable, especially at night" because there aren’t a lot of lights.
The helicopter had a black box with a voice and flight data recorder.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jan 30, 2025, 1:29 PM EST
American Airlines crew was based in Charlotte
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom remains in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to support the families and help authorities.
The flight, number 5342, had 60 passengers on board and four Charlotte-based crew members, Isom said in a letter to American team members.
"Out of respect for the families, we are not sharing the names of the two pilots and two flight attendants at this time, but our thoughts and prayers go out to their loved ones," Isom said.
Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
-ABC News’ Ayesha Ali
Jan 30, 2025, 1:00 PM EST
Schumer slams Trump for throwing out 'idle speculation'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed President Donald Trump's comments at the press briefing, during which Trump, without citing evidence, said diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration -- under Democratic presidents -- were partly to blame for the crash.
"It's one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracy theories. It is another for the president of the United States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families are still being notified," Schumer said during a press conference.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks alongside democratic members of the Senate Budget Committee at the Capitol, Jan.30, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Trump owes the American people an apology.
"It was just grotesque the way he immediately politicized this terrible tragedy," he said.