The American Airlines-Delta Air Lines Plane and Helicopter Collision at 9 p.m. ET in Wichita, Kan., at Reagan National Airport
A regional American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members traveling from Wichita, Kan., was moments from landing when it collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter carrying three U.S. service members, shortly before 9 p.m. ET.
At the moment of impact, video footage shows the aircraft flying at a low altitude before an explosion. Aviation expert John Cox told NPR the airspace around Reagan National Airport is particularly challenging for pilots and air traffic controllers because of the amount of air traffic.
“We will not be determining the probable cause of the accident while we are here on scene, nor will we speculate about what may have caused this accident,” J. Todd Inman, a member of the NTSB, said Thursday.
On Thursday, the agency said it retrieved both the black boxes from the American Airlines plane. Black boxes record conversations and other sounds happening in the cockpit, as well as relevant data about the aircraft and flight. They will be used to piece together the moments leading up to the wreck.
More than a dozen of the passengers were figure skaters, coaches or family members, according to the Skating Club of Boston, which sent several of its team members to Wichita for the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championship.
The next day, he hypothesized in remarks to the press without offering evidence that faulty night vision goggles or diversity, equity and inclusion policies could have played a part in the collision.
The president said he has common sense when he said that a conclusion about the relevancy of DEI could be reached so early on in the investigation. Many people don’t. We want people who are brilliant doing this.
First Collision of a U.S. Aircraft with a 50-MeV Passenger at the Center of Washington
It has been many years since we’ve had a collision like that and we don’t expect it to happen again.
The last major commercial airplane accident involving a U.S. passenger plane was in 2009 when a Colgan Air flight crashed near Buffalo, N.Y., killing 50 people.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “Our hearts and our prayers go out to all of the families and loved ones impacted by this horrific collision. I am very proud of our first responders in DC and in the entire region who continue recovery efforts.”
Sen. Roger Marshall said, “This is a time when we’ll have to help each other out.” We’ve been through tornadoes, floods and things before, but it’s really difficult when you lose 60 Kansans at the same time.
The tower at Reagan National Airport broadcasted the presence of American Eagle Flight 5342 twice within two minutes before the crash, and 12 seconds before impact, according to officials.
The Lobach Family: “It was a great loss, but an awful loss for a wonderful, bright star.” The commander of the Black Hawk halo that crashed above the Potomac River
In a prepared statement, the Lobach family said, “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.
“Initial indications suggest this may have been a checkride, or periodic evaluation by an experienced instructor pilot of a less experienced pilot,” said Brad Bowman, a military analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former Black Hawk pilot who after the 9/11 attacks flew out of Fort Belvoir on the same routes
“A checkride, as opposed to a normal training flight, creates some unique dynamics in the cockpit. In a checkride, the less experienced pilot can be nervous and eager to not make mistakes, while the instructor pilot is watching to see how the other pilot responds to different developments,” Bowman explained. If an instructor pilot wanted to test the less experienced pilot in that location, it would have been difficult given the reduced margin for error.
According to officials who were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, the Black Hawks may have been more than 100 feet higher than the 200 feet it is supposed to maintain.
Brown said she would march 12 miles with a 45 pound pack, at a pace faster than the standard for infantry soldiers. Lobach hoped to fly her Black Hawk at some point on a combat deployment and dreamed of one day becoming a doctor.
First Lieutenant Brown, who is also an active duty field artillery soldier, described her as a fierce competitor.
She died along with Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves, of Great Mills, Md. and a crew member.
Captain Rebecca was born in North Carolina and grew up in Durham. She was a distinguished military graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and commissioned in 2019 as an active-duty aviation officer.
The Army released the name of the third crew member of the Black Hawk helicopter that slammed into an American Airlines-affiliated flight above the Potomac River this week, killing 67 people.
Duckworth condemned the online speculation about the third member of the crew and especially President Trump’s musings that the Army crew was to blame. Speaking at the White House briefing room on Thursday, the President said, “I have helicopters. A helicopter can be stopped very quickly. It had the ability to go up or down. It had the ability to turn, and the turn it made was not the correct turn, obviously.”
The family has suffered an unbelievable loss, so we should be respecting their wishes. “I think it is a perfectly legitimate request the family would make. I’m glad that the Army is doing what it was asked to do.
The family of a Black Hawk pilot initially declined to reveal his identity, but Sen. Tammy Duckworth told NPR she understood why.
There were claims the female pilot was a transgender pilot from the Virginia National Guard named Jo Ellis. Ellis has posted a “proof of life” video on Facebook, denouncing the rumors and offering condolences to those killed in the crash.
The Black Hawk crash led to a wave of misinformation from social media focused on diversity, inclusion and equity. The Trump administration, including Hegseth, has pledged to wipe out diversity efforts across the government.
