The latest on the fatal midair plane and helicopter crash

Authorities are continuing to investigate a midair collision between an American Airlines airliner and an Army helicopter, in which the aircraft fell into the icy Potomac River near Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night.

All 67 passengers, crew members and Army service members are believed to have died.

Here is what we know so far.

How did it happen?

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.

Video footage of the incident shows the aircraft flying at a low altitude before an explosion happened at the moment of impact. 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.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the Blackhawk was being used for training at the time.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident and has not stated a cause.

“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.

The agency said it will perform a thorough and accurate investigation of the incident and provide a preliminary report in the next 30 days.

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. The NTSB will use them to piece together what happened in the moments leading to the wreck.

Passengers and crew members have begun being identified

As of Thursday morning, officials said 28 of the 67 people have been recovered from the Potomac River.

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.

Russian World Champion figure skaters Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were also onboard.

President Trump questions if DEI policies are to blame

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, President Trump said he had been briefed on the incident and offered his condolences.

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.

A reporter asked how a conclusion about the relevance of DEI could be reached so early on in the investigation, to which the president said: “Because I have common sense, OK? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this.”

Trump also said Americans should not be afraid to fly.

“This is something that — it’s been many years since something like this has happened, and the collision is just something that we don’t expect it to happen ever again,” he said.

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.

Other politicians offered their condolences, as well.

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.”

“This is a time when we’ll have to join arms together and help each other out,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R.-Kan. “We’ve been through things like this before, through tornadoes and floods and things, but it’s really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously.”

Former President Joe Biden said, “Jill and I are praying for the families of the victims who tragically lost their lives in the plane and helicopter crash near DCA. We are immensely grateful to the brave first responders and emergency personnel on the scene.”