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Officials have confirmed there are no survivors in the horrifying mid-air crash that happened at the Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Wednesday night.
A passenger jet operating as American Airlines Flight 5342, which originated from Wichita, Kanas, was coming in for landing when it was struck by a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. Both the plane and the helicopter then plummeted from the sky and landed in the Potomac River.
There were 60 passengers and 4 crew on board the American Airlines flight, and 3 soldiers aboard the Army helicopter. All 67 souls have perished, authorities have announced.
As of Thursday morning, search crews and divers have retrieved 27 bodies from the plane, and 1 from the helicopter.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared an update Thursday morning, and explained that the Black Hawk helicopter crew was on a training flight.
“At about 8:48 last night, a UH60, assigned to the U.S. Army Aviation Brigade in the military district of Washington, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, collided tragically with a civilian airliner,” Hegseth said.
“The Army unit involved was with Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir. It was an annual proficiency training flight.”
“We do know on our side who was involved. It was a fairly experienced crew, and that was doing a required annual night evaluation. They did have night vision goggles,” he added.
“It’s a tragedy, a horrible loss of life for those 64 souls on that civilian airliner. And of course, the three soldiers in that Black Hawk. They’re in our prayers, their families and their communities as people are notified. I can’t imagine and I know it’s it’s gone from a rescue mission to a recovery mission.”
WATCH his full remarks in the video below:
Update on Guantanamo Bay Operations and @SecDef Hegseth Addresses Tragic Mishap Involving US Army Helicopter pic.twitter.com/80J5djB4oP
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) January 30, 2025
President Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning, “I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”
MID-AIR CRASH UPDATE: First details emerge of passengers on board fatal flight
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