Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon and the US Army have launched an investigation into the catastrophic midair collision between a commercial jet and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.

Two Russian figure skating coaches with Connecticut ties were among those killed after an American Airlines flight and Army helicopter collided and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River Wednesday night.

According to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the Army helicopter was on an "annual proficiency training flight" and the three soldiers on board had night vision goggles.

The midair collision Wednesday night between a regional American Airlines passenger jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., was "absolutely" preventable,

Military spokesman Ron McLendon II said the Army is joining an investigation into the crash headed by the National Transportation Security Board.

An American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter outside Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Wednesday night. A D.C. fire official said Thursday that “we don't think there are any survivors from this accident" and "we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

Sixty-seven people died in a collision between a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operated by PSA Airlines and a military Black Hawk helicopter.

A regional jet carrying 64 people collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter. Reagan National Airport grounded all flights.

The Black Hawk that struck an American Airlines flight landing at Reagan airport had three soldiers on board and no VIPs or senior officials were involved.

Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue crews search the waters of the Potomac River after a passenger plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river after colliding with a US Army helicopter, near Washington, DC, on January 30, 2025.

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 expected.

An American Airlines plane with 64 people on board collided with an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., and crashed into the Potomac River.