WASHINGTON – As search efforts continue, federal officials are launching multiple investigations into the cause of the mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the lead agency in the investigation, is pledging a thorough review of the incident.
“We are going to leave no stone unturned,” said Todd Inman, NTSB board member and spokesperson for the investigation. “We will help find out what happened. We will do it factually. We will do it accurately.”
Emergency responders have now pulled more than two dozen people from the plane and the helicopter, officials said, but many more are still missing. More updates about the 64 people on board the plane and three on the helicopter will come from Washington’s medical examiner, NTSB officials said.
The passenger jet, American Eagle Flight 5342, was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington when it collided with the helicopter on Wednesday night. More than 300 local responders showed up at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to try and find survivors. There were none.
“We’re absolutely heartbroken for the family and loved ones of the passengers and crew members, and also for those that were on the military aircraft,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. “This is devastating. We are all hurting incredibly.”
But as families begin grappling with news of what happened, a range of public agencies are digging into the more complicated questions of how, and why.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense are launching investigations. Hegseth says the 12th Aviation Battalion, the Black Hawk’s unit, will undergo “a 48-hour operational pause on contingency mission” to review the incident.
At the time of the collision, Hegseth said, the Army helicopter was conducting a required annual night evaluation flight, operated by “a fairly experienced crew” using night-vision goggles. Speculation about the cause of the crash has focused on the high-traffic airspace around the airport.
“We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the corridor and at the right altitude at the time of the incident,” Hegseth said.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said he believes the collision was “absolutely” preventable.
“It was a clear night,” Duffy said. “The helicopter was in a standard flight pattern. The American airline flight coming in to land was in a standard flight pattern as it was coming into DCA,” as the airport is known.
Officials have located both aircrafts and are working to recover the fuselage of the plane and its contents, pieces that will become part of the investigation.
“We will not rest until we have answers for the families, and for the flying public,” Duffy said. “You should be assured that when you fly, you are safe.”
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy described the investigation as “an all-hands-on-deck event.”
Still, there is so much that isn’t yet known. In a press briefing Thursday, Trump suggested that “common sense” points to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government as a factor for the collision, but he offered no evidence beyond that.
He said his administration will investigate the cause more specifically.
“We’ll find out how this disaster occurred,” Trump said, “and we’ll ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.”