Authorities have said there were no survivors of the collision between the American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. military helicopter over the Potomac River.
The NTSB is investigating possible causes, including communication failures, mechanical issues, and low visibility due to cold weather. Black box recovery efforts are underway.
President Trump has vowed a swift release of findings, while leadership changes in transportation and defense may impact the investigation.
#US #PlaneCrash
The NTSB is investigating possible causes, including communication failures, mechanical issues, and low visibility due to cold weather. Black box recovery efforts are underway.
President Trump has vowed a swift release of findings, while leadership changes in transportation and defense may impact the investigation.
#US #PlaneCrash
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NewsTranscript
00:00Sure, the president first expressing sympathy for the families he began his press briefing
00:06with a moment of silence.
00:08He then went on to say that his administration expected to reveal details about the cause
00:13of this crash as quickly as possible, and it's Donald Trump, so he also took some political
00:19swipes at his predecessors.
00:21Here's what we know at this point.
00:24The airplane, an American Airlines subsidiary flight, a Bombardier CRJ700, a common regional
00:32jet, was coming northbound up the Potomac River, which is right between the airport
00:38where I am and Washington, D.C.
00:40The Blackhawk helicopter is heading south along a corridor reserved for low-flying helicopters.
00:48This is a Blackhawk helicopter, as you mentioned, known colloquially as a gold top, painted
00:53gold on the top used primarily for VIP transport.
00:57The newly minted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said within the last hour or so that this
01:03was a required annual night evaluation flight flown by what he called a fairly experienced
01:09crew and that the pilots had night vision at their disposal.
01:14So there's web camera footage that shows the collision, and it appears to be a clear night.
01:20Both aircraft appear to be clearly lit, and we've already gotten some of the chatter from
01:27the air traffic control tower, where you can clearly hear the controller telling the helicopter
01:33to fly behind the plane, so it's unclear what happened that caused that collision.
01:38After the crash, both aircraft went into the Potomac River behind me.
01:43Two things to keep in mind.
01:44It's been extremely cold here.
01:45Much of this river, not far upstream from where we are, is still solid ice.
01:50That made the conditions even more difficult, and this is an extremely complex airspace
01:56that we are in.
01:57Not only do you have commercial aircraft coming and going from here at Oregon National Airport,
02:02you also have general aviation flights, and you have the helicopters going up and down
02:06the river constantly, and not only do you have that traffic, but just on the other side
02:11of the river, much of the airspace is restricted.
02:14It's the U.S. Capitol.
02:16It's the White House.
02:17Pilots generally don't go over that, so they stick to this narrow corridor along the river.
02:22Some pilots describe it as taking off and landing in a canyon.
02:27Back to you, Sally and Jamie.
02:29Tell us a little bit more about the investigation, because clearly we don't yet have clarity
02:34how this happened.
02:36Yeah, the investigation is now led by the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board.
02:44They're going to experience recreating what happened in these situations.
02:48They're going to look at communications between the air traffic control tower here at the
02:52airport and the helicopter and the airplane.
02:55They're also going to try to find the so-called black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and
03:02the flight data recorder.
03:07Both of those presumably landed in the river.
03:10Both of them are equipped to be in environments like that, and as soon as they hit water,
03:13they release a ping, so it should not be difficult for them to find.
03:16So they'll examine that, looking at those communications between the plane, the tower
03:22and the helicopter.
03:24And of course, they'll look for any mechanical issues as well.
03:28President Trump, in his comments, saying that the military would also be involved and the
03:33FAA.
03:34Not clear whether this will be made more difficult by the fact that the leaders of these organizations,
03:40the Department of Transportation, the Pentagon, etc., have all just been in the job for a
03:45couple of days.
03:46So we'll have to see how the investigation plays out.
03:48Sally, Jamie.
03:49Thank you very much.
03:50Jim Spellman at the Regan National Airport.