Black Hawk chopper unit was on annual proficiency training flight, Hegseth says

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the American people following the deadly collision involving an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter outside Reagan National Airport. Hegseth says the crash occurred while the Black Hawk was on an annual proficiency training flight.

“We do know on our side who was involved. It was a fairly experienced crew, and that was doing a required annual night evaluation,” Hegseth said in a video statement obtained exclusively by Fox News. “We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the quarter at the right altitude at the time of the incident.”

“It’s a tragedy, a horrible loss of life for those 64 souls on that civilian airliner. And of course, the three soldiers in that Black Hawk. They’re in our prayers, their families and their communities as people are notified,” Hegseth added.

On Wednesday, around 9:00 PM local time, the FAA issued a ground stop at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after a military helicopter with three soldiers collided with a civilian airplane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members.

In a press conference on Thursday morning, DC Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly announced nearly 30 bodies had been recovered from the scene of the collision so far. At this time, authorities do not believe there are any survivors, Donnelly added.

“We have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” he added. “Despite all these efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”

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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser thanked first responders for working in a “very frigid” river through the night in what started as a search and rescue mission, which is now a recovery mission.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was sworn-in hours before the collision, vowed to get answers on behalf of the collision victims’ families and the American people. Duffy noted that the collision occurred on a clear night and that both the airplane and helicopter were in “standard” patterns.

“Safety is our expectation. Everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely, that when you depart an airport, you get to your destination. That didn’t happen last night,” Duffy said. Duffy believes that the evidence so far indicates that the collision could have “absolutely” been prevented.