A catastrophic mid-air collision just miles from the nation’s capital – an American Airlines jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter meet in a fiery disaster near Washington, DC. Here’s what we know so far.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00A catastrophic midair collision just miles from the nation's capital.
00:05An American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter meet in a fiery
00:10disaster near Washington, D.C.
00:12Here's what we know so far.
00:18In a devastating incident, the passenger plane collided midair with the helicopter while
00:23approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
00:26All 67 individuals aboard both aircraft have perished in the crash, including American
00:31and Russian figure skaters who were among the plane's passengers.
00:35President Donald Trump addressed the nation, suggesting that diversity hiring practices
00:40within the Federal Aviation Administration may have played a role in the incident, though
00:45no evidence has been provided to support this claim.
00:47U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the helicopter crew was fairly experienced,
00:53but it remains unclear why the collision was not avoided.
00:56The crash occurred just miles from the White House and the Pentagon, near one of the most
01:01heavily controlled airspaces in the country.
01:04While authorities have not suggested an initial security threat, close proximity to key government
01:09sites underscores the severity of this disaster.
01:19Air traffic control recordings reveal that a controller warned the helicopter about the
01:23approaching jet just seconds before impact.
01:27The pilot acknowledged that warning, but the collision still occurred.
01:30At least 28 bodies have been pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River, and officials
01:36have confirmed that no survivors are expected.
01:37Despite all those efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue
01:42operation to a recovery operation.
01:45This marks the deadliest U.S. air disaster in nearly 25 years, ever since an American
01:50Airlines flight crashed back in 2001, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
01:57So what caused this latest plane crash?
02:00The investigation continues.