currents and the other concerns. so just a little sense of the lay of the land, of what they're dealing with out in the dark and out in the cold. >> yeah. and tom foreman, we're looking at that view. we're waiting to hear from officials with an update for us. thank you. tom. >> you're welcome. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> i'm laura coates on the scene of what is a crash between a black hawk helicopter and a regional aircraft operating flights on behalf of american airlines. with 60 passengers on board, four members of the crew colliding with the black hawk aircraft that had three members of the military. right now, caitlin, they are racing against time and the cold, both being enemies of the

>> it was a flight that was supposed to land at about 8:48 p.m. eastern here. it had taken off from wichita, kansas at about 620 our time, 520 central time in kansas. we know there are 60 passengers on board, four crew members and three members, as laura mentioned there, of the u.s. military on board that blackhawk helicopter. we are continuing to wait for a live update from officials where laura is at the reagan national airport. hopefully, we will learn new information. as we know, so many families and loved ones are also standing by for that information. back here on set with cnn's aviation correspondent pete muntean. and pete, as we've been watching, it was this massive response. and you're looking at this, this if you continue to you see there in the bottom right hand of your screen. >> it's hard to watch. >> this was it's sickening. this was shot from the kennedy center, a camera that was over there where we could see this, this moment that this happened in midair, something that, as you noted, has not happened in over a decade in the united

states. >> there has not been a major fatal commercial airline crash since the colgan air crash of february 12th, 2009, which was a sea change in aviation. major changes. what did they change then? they changed pilot qualifications and the requirements that the experience that pilots were required to have to become an airline pilot. that was really significant. there are mid-air collisions that happen in really tiny, small little, maybe general aviation airplanes here and there, but so infrequently involving a commercial flight. and there have been plenty of warnings that this could happen involving commercial flights. one the idea and and the phenomenon of near collisions involving commercial flights really took off back at the beginning of 2023. there were plenty of scrapes, nothing that involved actual bended metal on commercial flights. there was a

special empaneled safety stand down day by the federal aviation administration. the ntsb looked into incident after incident, and now they are realizing their worst fears and investigators have been launched to this to the scene here on the potomac river, on what is very cold water on a moonless night in the nation's capital. that is not helping the search and rescue operation there from this live shot from wusa. you can see the boats in the water there right now, but nothing apparent to me in any of these shots that look like parts of the crj 700, the regional jet carrying 64 people on board. nothing apparent to me from any of these shots. that looks like that blackhawk carrying that helicopter, carrying three members of the united states military. this is really going to be something that is so stunning. and like the colgan air crash of 2009, you can very likely put money on the fact that there will be some

very significant regulatory changes and very big conversations that are about to take place about aviation safety in the united states. this is only the start of what will be a huge conversation. >> and we're seeing an all of government response underway right now. we know at the white house that president trump has been briefed. you're continuing to see these high beams over the water as this effort is going underway. right now, the plane is in multiple pieces in the water, according to what a law enforcement source told our colleague gabe cohen. we know sean duffy, the brand new transportation secretary, is over at the faa headquarters. the coast guard has been ordered by the dhs secretary to be involved in this, and we are waiting to hear from officials at reagan airport to learn new information. we are expecting that in the next half hour and will obviously bring it to you live. i want to go to cedric leighton, who is here with me. he's a cnn military analyst. and, colonel, you're here. this is a black hawk helicopter. and obviously people in washington might be really familiar with this, but maybe some others aren't. and we know three

members of the army were on this helicopter when this crash happened. it was a training flight, we are told. is it typical to see those kind of training flights in the evening hours? >> yes, it is, caitlin. and it's one of those moments where they train in the evening hours in order to do things like make sure that they are proficient using night vision goggles, that they understand how to fly with instruments. sometimes they have to use visual flight, what are known as visual flight rules. so they train in all of these conditions, and especially because of the mission of the unit in question, which is the 12th aviation battalion at fort belvoir, davidson army airfield at fort belvoir, and that mission is one that involves the transport, you know, often of vips. and also, of course, they do other things as well. but one of the key aspects of this is that they have to train in order to avoid incidents like this.

they have to train in the airspace that is full of commercial activity, and that is one of the big things that they, you know, try to be very proficient in. of course, in this particular case, we have a very tragic outcome. but the kind of activity that you often see here in the washington area is very rare. you see these kinds of helicopter flights that is designed not only to make them proficient, but also to enhance their flight flying skills, their their aviation skills. and that's that's really what we've seen in this particular case, where they try to maintain that proficiency, fly, you know, using navigation aids, fly without navigation aids. those are the kinds of things that they train for. and that's one of the things that i think they were trying to do in this particular instance, that helicopter crew was trying to do. >> yeah. and we're seeing, you know, these, these powerful floodlights being used all over the water. it's not just clear if they're just looking for maybe debris. in addition to this search and rescue effort

that is underway. but on this blackhawk helicopter specifically, and the fact that it was on a training crew, people may have heard us reporting earlier that no senior u.s. officials were on board. it's typically used in washington to to transport them just for some context information there of why that was initially a question of who exactly was on board this helicopter and why it was flying at this hour. this is the black. and just can you walk us through, you know, if you're a pilot on that helicopter, what a typical flight looks like and comms and how that goes. >> so the blackhawk is, as you really mentioned, a workhorse for military aviation for all the different branches of of the military. and in the army's case, they have, you know, quite a squadron of these in the

washington area because they need it for vip transport. if you go down interstate 95, which takes you south of washington into virginia, that interstate is often overflown by blackhawk helicopters, many of them coming from the pentagon or going to the pentagon. and that's where a lot of that vip transport would take place. sometimes they'll. transport, you know, specific materials. sometimes they will do other things where they are, you know, practicing for other missions. some of those combat missions. so one of the key things to note about the blackhawk is it's not just a transport aircraft. it is also a combat aircraft. and there are different variants of the aircraft. it's been around for quite some time in the u.s. military inventory, and it's been really designed to be a workhorse that has found its way into a lot of the conflict zones that we've fought in over the past 20 or so years, and that, you know, makes it an aircraft where there are a lot of pilots within army aviation who are

skilled in flying the aircraft. but each environment is a unique one. so whenever they get reassigned to a new posting, to a new base, they have to learn the local area. and this may be one of those things where they were in a situation where they were trying to learn the local area and, you know, familiarize themselves with the different geographic features as well as, of course, the air traffic in the area, which as we know, is quite crowded. >> yeah. and we just heard from the new defense secretary, pete hegseth, saying that an investigation has been launched immediately by the army and by the department of defense. he says that the search and rescue effort is still ongoing. we're waiting to hear from officials who were at reagan national airport, colonel cedric leighton, thank you for that and for your expertise. as always, i want to go back to laura coates, who is live on the scene. >> the unimaginable happening here. caitlin, the idea of a black hawk helicopter colliding with a with an aircraft that is

carrying passengers, 60 of them, four crew members and of course, three members of the military on that black hawk helicopter. we have an eyewitness who was on a rooftop in a neighboring town called arlington, right. and able to see what actually took place. i've got roy best on the phone. roy, can you tell us what you saw this evening? >> yes. um, me and myself, a couple of neighbors. we were on the rooftop today because it was a little warmer than it has been. uh, the last i want to say, the last few weeks. uh, we normally sit up there and watch the planes every day fly up and down, very close to the airport um, and then next thing you know, we just heard an explosion. we looked to the left. my neighbor just hollered, it looks like a plane. is a plane plane falling. so i looked down and we just saw the explosion and something falling down on the ground. and, um, a few minutes later, we found out it was also a helicopter that crashed into the plane.

>> how many explosions did you hear? >> i heard one explosion. i heard one explosion. and we saw a come almost like a fire bomb and a flight going down a little bit. and then it's so dark out there we didn't see after that. we didn't see anything else. it was just dark. >> did you see 1 or 2 aircrafts in the sky? >> i saw one aircraft. uh, my neighbor said he thought it was another aircraft that ran into the plane. um, i didn't actually see that, but i did see the explosion and the plane going down. >> what were you feeling in that moment when you saw what had happened? >> uh, i was in shock till right now. i'm still shocked. uh, we couldn't believe it. i was just shocked. >> do you have an idea of where it went down? did it go down and touch on land or in the water?

were you able to see? >> uh, it looked like it was mainly in the water. definitely in the water. >> how about how long after did you see emergency vehicles coming on the scene? >> i want to say, uh, it was immediate from the airport. uh, probably another five, ten minutes. that's when you saw just fire trucks. police, ambulances coming from everywhere, coming from, uh, coming south from the dc area, coming from fairfax, heading over there. they looked like they were just coming from everywhere on the highway. >> do you often see helicopters in the area as well? near by planes here? >> oh, yeah. that's an everyday thing for the military helicopters. um, two coast guard helicopters. um, it's a pretty common, common thing in this area.

>> it's unbelievable and unimaginable that what you've seen tonight. roy, thank you for telling us what you saw. caitlin. the idea of the frequency of helicopters in this very area near such a major and extraordinarily busy airport in the nation's capital, no less, just a few miles, not even, frankly, from our nation's pentagon. just a surreal moment to know that there are fatalities that have been confirmed as divers. you see behind me, they are not giving up. you've got a helicopter in the air with a trained spotlight circling, circling over and over and over again for at. >> least. >> be able to give some semblance of light to the divers who are fighting against time. and of course, the conditions in this water. this is not an atypically frigid time here in washington, dc, where a weaker move from very frigid temperatures. but the water about 35 degrees. hypothermia is

the enemy. time is the enemy and the current and the treacherous conditions of trying to navigate a possible explosion that might play out in the water as well. these divers lives are also in danger, as they're trying desperately to give information confirmation in this rescue effort here in the nation's capital. caitlin. >> yeah, and as you noted, the pentagon nearby, we do know tonight that the defense secretary pete hegseth newly on the job, just for a few days now, says that they have immediately launched an investigation from the defense department and with the army within that as well, given the blackhawk helicopter involved here, laura coates will continue to check back in with you. and just to remind everyone, we are waiting to get a press conference from officials at reagan national airport. you can see them here setting up their microphones. ezra gabe cohen is reporting from after hearing from officials earlier that no survivors had yet been pulled from the water and that fatalities had been confirmed. right now, there are still passengers getting off planes that had been grounded at reagan

national airport. it is a bit of a chaotic scene that is underway, understandably there right now at the airport. we will bring those remarks to you live when they happen. also joining me right now is cnn's aviation analyst, miles o'brien. miles, as you were going to be listening to the officials that are at this briefing, we're still waiting. but presumably the ntsb will be there. what is the first thing that you are going to be listening for? >> well, i'm curious, first and foremost, what air traffic control saw and did. i did hear a clip of a recording that the reagan national tower was telling the military aircraft, whose callsign was pat 25, to pass behind the descending aircraft, the american airlines aircraft. so but there was no acknowledgment of that radio call. so was there some kind of distraction in the cockpit? one of the things that we will, uh, consider as we go along here are

things like the difficulty of flying at night on visual flight rules. it causes all kinds of spatial misunderstandings, if you will. you can think things are closer than they are. you can misinterpret altitude. flying at night is a special art unto itself. and is it possible that the pilot was attempting to get behind that aircraft, but misjudged exactly the altitudes those two aircraft, at least when you look at it horizontally, where were they were supposed to be? one was on the approach for runway 33, and the helicopter was on a corridor which runs right up the potomac river. the thing to consider here, caitlin, as you well know, this is complicated, crowded and highly restricted airspace. it's like a tiny little narrow canyon that helicopters can safely fly through on the right side in this case, or the d.c. side, you've got all kinds of prohibited airspace. you've got reagan airport, of course, on the left side, you've got the

pentagon. it's it's tight and it doesn't require there's not a lot of leeway in all that. and so it requires pilots to be extra vigilant. the helicopter pilots in this case are flying under visual flight rules, which means they're supposed to see and avoid other traffic. uh, in this case, they're communicating with the tower, which is saying, hey, you're in a corridor where you will have descending or landing traffic, and you should be aware of that. but so first things first, we want to, you know, figure out what happened as far as the recovery of casualties. sadly, as time goes on, there's not a ton of optimism for that. but of course i'll be listening most for that to see if anybody survived yeah. >> and miles, american airlines has put out an 800 number for people whose loved ones were on this on this flight to be able to call in, as they are obviously so desperately worried about them. as of this moment, we actually just heard from the ceo of american airlines, who

released a video statement after this plane collided with a black hawk helicopter. i just want to take a moment to listen to what the ceo had to say. >> american eagle flight 5342, operated by psa airlines, a crj 700 aircraft traveling from wichita, kansas, to washington reagan national airport, has been involved in an accident near washington, dc. it appears to have collided with a military aircraft on approach. flight 5342 was under the command of four crew members and carried 60 passengers, for a total of 64 people on board. we are actively working with local, state and federal authorities on emergency response efforts, and the american airlines care team has been activated to assist our passengers and their families. we're cooperating fully with the national transportation safety board in its investigation, and will continue to provide all the information we can. our cooperation is

without pause, and we want to learn everything we can about today's events. that work will take time, but anything we can do now, we're doing. and right now, that means focusing on taking care of all passengers and crew involved, as well as their families. members of our go team will be on their way to washington, dc, and i'll be heading there shortly as well. >> so we're hearing from the ceo of american airlines. he says he is going to be heading here to the reagan airport on the scene of this, where we are expecting officials any moment now to hold a press conference. miles, what stands out from you to you, from what he said there? >> well, i you know, it's it's the right thing to do, of course, to get out in front of this, you know, an issue that will potentially come up in all of this harkens back to 16 years ago and the crash of the colgan airlines aircraft in buffalo. uh, these, um, you get on these aircraft, these regional

aircraft, it might be painted to look like american airlines or in the case of covid, united, but they're actually operated by a smaller company in this case, psa operates it. and so you do get into questions about, you know, is the level of training, the work rules, certainly the pay all these things get factored into the considerations on an incident like this. was the crew up to up to snuff? in both cases, both cockpits. uh, so while it says american airlines on it, you do have to read the fine print on your tickets when you get on these regionals, because in many cases, most cases actually, they're operated by different companies using the branding of the of the legacy carrier. >> all right. thank you so much, miles o'brien, for that. and that update, as we just heard that from the ceo of american airlines saying he'll be headed here to the nation's capital, that you're watching as this massive emergency response is very much still underway. i also have mary schiavo with me.

she's the former inspector general of the watchdog for the u.s. department of transportation. it's great to have you back here, mary. we last spoke about three hours ago, right when this a little over three hours ago. is this a crash had first happened. you just heard there, miles o'brien, talking about, you know, you got to read the fine print on your plane ticket because, yes, it is, it is american airlines, but it is operated by psa. how does that factor into the plane? the aircraft itself, as far as standards go. >> well, uh, many years ago, in fact, when i was inspector general, the department of transportation and the federal aviation went through basically a regulation overhaul, and it was a one standard for all airlines. so it used to be regional carriers and local, you know, all different kinds of carriers. and there were different standards of safety. but back in the 90s, it was one standard of safety for all. and so the same requirements for safety regulations, training, et

cetera. are to apply to all commercial passenger service airlines. and, you know, in the united states of america, well over half of our flights are flown by what we call these regional carriers. so the name on the door might say american or delta or united, but in fact, it's flown by another airline. but the safety standards and the security standards, of course, are supposed to be all of the same. and that was a big effort back in the 90s to extend the big jets, uh, standards to all planes flying passengers in commercial service. >> and, mary, when we're about to have this press conference with officials at reagan national airport, it's expected at 1230. we'll see. as we're waiting, the microphones are set up. the reporters are there at the airport that has been closed down until at least 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. what will you be listening for? >> well, for more clues already. you know, so much of cnn's reporting has has gleaned a lot

of facts, information from air traffic control was was really vital because all flights in this area are 100% positively controlled by air traffic control, as are all commercial passenger service flights. it's the law. and so we will want to hear more. we've already learned that air traffic control advised the helicopter about the flight in the area that they were supposed to pass behind the flight. they said they had the flight in sight, but when you see the video, you can see there are two flights and washington reagan was very busy tonight. i flew in there tonight myself at around 730. um, there were earlier some delays because of traffic. and you can see there's two planes in the area. as we look at this, this video right now. so there is an awful lot that has been learned already. so i think as is typical for the ntsb, they will have a briefing of strictly the facts that they know they will not speculate or guess about anything, but a lot of information has come out

already, and it certainly helps people begin to grapple, you know, begin to understand and and take on board what has happened. but i mean, this is a this is a big job. and particularly where it involves a commercial u.s. commercial airline, actually, to the one that sold the tickets, american. and the one that was flying at psa and the united states military, um, when the government becomes involved in an aviation accident, a whole 'nother set of laws come into play on top of the, you know, the laws that you're used to. and there will be military investigators, along with the ntsb. and that adds another dimension. the military has their own investigation team. they will they have already deployed their military investigation team. you know, usually they're used to commanding their investigations. but here by law, they will have to um, other than for national

security considerations, they will have to take command of the ntsb. >> mary, always appreciate your expertise. thank you so much for joining us. and obviously we are you can see on the right side of your screen microphones set up at reagan national airport. that is where we are awaiting a press conference from officials set to begin any moment now. laura coates is live on the scene at reagan national airport. and, laura, as we're just watching this and seeing new videos and new angles of this come in, um, the emergency response very much still underway behind you. what have you noticed in the last few minutes? >> you know, at one point in time, that helicopter with the strobe light that had come down and the coy wire area had left momentarily, it has now resumed almost immediately. and it's back in the area. i'm here with brian todd, who has been here on the scene along with me. it is still is increasingly cold, still very dark. we know there are still boats on the scene, indicating that there is still

divers on the actual water trying to do something. >> that's right. and we're trying, you know, we've been standing here watching this operation going on all night long, trying to pinpoint the location of where this plane might be. we do know that those lights straight ahead and we can kind of, again, kind of split off and let our photojournalist, nick leinbach, zoom in to that area there. that's where we can see from the naked eye. we can see that those are boats. that's also near the the confluence of where the potomac and anacostia rivers meet, and also near joint base anacostia-bolling, which is a joint navy and air force base just to the south, where they are staging assets over to our right. as laura pointed out, um, we did see two helicopters, you know, in circular motions above the water with spotlights. they disappeared. and then at least one of them came back. one of them is above the water over there right now. i can't see whether he has a spotlight on the water. he may. but again, the big question. laura, can we

pinpoint the location of that plane? we see these boats over here, and then there's kind of a space between two sets of boats. is the plane there and is the helicopter there? the helicopter is near where the plane is. both are in the water. as our colleague gabe cohen pointed out from his sources, um, the plane is in pieces in the water. so, you know, there could be elements of the plane that are not centralized in one location that's going to, again, complicate the rescue and recovery efforts tonight. it's just getting colder as we speak. you and i have been talking about the weather, the water at least is very calm. that's that's a good thing for the divers. you and i were talking about the danger to the divers. yeah, they are not. they are really, you know, risking their lives going down in that twisted wreckage. you know, their tanks could get caught in something. they have no visibility. it is pitch black down there. of course they've got lights with them, but it is so dangerous for them. >> fighting the same hypothermia conditions as those who would be without the type of equipment that they would have on. they have been in the water for now

hours, presumably intermittently, i'm sure. but for hours now trying to identify. but you're right, trying to navigate around the space, trying to figure out whether they can rescue or get a sense of what has happened here. and again, time we have another helicopter. you can see in the distance there with still that spotlight trained. this is a clear night, but it is pitch black. the only lights that are visible are the different flashing lights of law enforcement and first responders. and that seems to be their only source of light. >> that's right. i guess you and i were both a little surprised that they didn't have more air assets up there. right now, only one helicopter in the air. they had two at one point. but you know, again, we don't know what the deployment plan is and what what we can show you physically here is that this this is a really huge staging area. it is very wide. you've got reagan national airport right there. that's the end of the runway at reagan national airport. you can see the flashing lights there. that's one staging area. there's another one over to the north where you see a lot of blue and red flashing lights

there. i don't know whether that's across the river in d.c. or maybe at reagan, but then you've got the boats over here. we believe that's where the concentrated rescue effort is going on. and then over to the right, to the south, joint base anacostia-bolling. it is a huge staging area with assets deployed all over this river at this point. and again, they're working against conditions, cold, poor visibility. >> and adding to the tragedy, the proximity of where they are looking for this aircraft and the rescue mission close to the runway at the airport, close to where the destination would have resulted in a safe landing. and we know the tragedy that has occurred. we've got gabe cohen, who is back in the airport with some new reporting. gabe, what have you learned? >> sir? excuse me. well, laura, i've been told by a law enforcement source who is at the scene that the search and rescue operation has become even more grave here over the past minutes

and hours that the images they're starting to get images back from the rescuers who are on the water, the boats, the divers, and they describe them as stunning, difficult to even make out what they are seeing. the plane is in pieces in the water, and officials right now are preparing for this to be potentially the deadliest disaster here in washington in decades. we have confirmed there are fatalities in the potomac, and at this point, a law enforcement source tells me no survivors have been pulled from the water. we're expecting a press conference here at reagan airport in the next couple of minutes. d.c. mayor muriel bowser is going to be leading the press conference, and we expect to hear from other officials as well. so, laura, we're likely to get an update. but again, that that law enforcement source telling me that the the actual operation happening right now on the potomac has become much more grave in these brutal conditions as they're starting to get an up close look at the wreckage. what what those pieces of the

plane. what? the helicopter that's been bobbing up and down in the water, what they actually look like. and it is a terrible scene that they're describing. >> a stunning turn of events and a tragedy. caitlin, we are here on the river behind us. what was a rescue operation? now? changing rapidly, hoping to get more information. we're told there have been no survivors that have been pulled from the wreckage. as divers are continuing in their efforts to get information. just being told by our own gabe cohen that some of what they're seeing and describing is undescribable. they're not sure what it is. they're seeing a plane in pieces just near the end of the reagan national airport runway. you can only imagine what these final moments of these flights were like, as we're trying to get more information waiting for this press conference, family members, members of the military

desperate to understand how this could have happened and why and what now? >> yeah, it makes your stomach turn to hear gabe's reporting there. just about so far, no survivors have been pulled from the water. it's been over three hours. we're getting close to four since this flight crashed. was expected to land about 8:48 p.m. eastern. and i should note any moment now, we are expecting officials to come out and brief reporters there where gabe was reporting from at reagan national airport. the microphones have been set up and we are waiting to see what updates, if any, they have on this search and rescue operation that's been going on. we do know the washington, d.c. mayor muriel bowser, is expected to be one of the officials there. we are waiting to see who else joins her. pete muntean, as we're watching this, i mean, i think so many people are stunned watching and seeing this scene outside the nation's capital, but also that it has been 16 years since a commercial airliner has crashed in the united states. >> it speaks to the gold standard of safety that is commercial flying in the u.s., and it is hard to tell. folks i

get a lot of questions about is flying safe? typically, i answer yes. now it gives me a bit of pause knowing that this has happened and we have had a bit of an aligning of the holes in the swiss cheese that so many aviation experts have warned about. a midair collision like this is incredibly rare and really has not happened. involving a commercial flight in decades. 1978 was about the same time, and perhaps a grim piece of irony involving a psa flight. it's important to note, as we continue to hear about psa, this airline that was operating this flight on behalf of american airlines, that is a company that is owned wholly by american airlines, this is the flight path that you can see here. the yellow line is of the helicopter. this is the flight tracking data. the orange line is of that american airlines psa flight coming in to land on runway 33 at reagan national

airport. this is a common and routine approach typically utilized by air traffic controllers to try and squeeze planes in a little bit faster. this is the image of the fireball that ensued of the helicopter coming right to left, toward the bright light there. that is, that psa american airlines flight and then smash. that is the midair collision and the parts falling to the icy potomac river below water temperature about 35 degrees tonight. i've pointed this out a couple times prior, and i have a few models here to demonstrate just how hard it can be for a pilot of a pilot of a commercial airliner. two pilots in that airplane, and the pilots of helicopters to see one another. typically. >> where are the blind spots? if you're a pilot? so you understand this very well, obviously. where are the blind spots? if you're on either of these. >> aircraft, the blind spot in a commercial airliner is really anything that the pilots are not focused on. when you're descending, you can't see super well below and in front of you. so it is said that pilots doing

a typical approach in a commercial airliner. their their brains are lighting off with the same frequency as a doctor doing cardiovascular surgery, open heart surgery because. >> they're not focused. >> it's an incredible focus. you're focused on the instruments and also focused on the runway. you are locked in the blind spots in a helicopter. helicopter pilots typically are looking at the ground. and the altitude here was only at about 300ft. so you can see here as the collision sort of is ensuing, helicopter pilots aren't looking up a lot because of where the rotors are. the pilots are probably locked in on the runway in front of them, and you could see how this sort of disaster is in the making. so it is it is really so important to underscore how infrequent mid-air collisions are, but how quickly the recipe, the bad recipe can, can be concocted and and disaster can take place. this is likely going to be one of the worst air tragedies we have seen in 25 years, maybe more.

>> and certainly one of the deadliest potentially in washington. if you're on that helicopter. i mean, we've seen these these helicopters. they're obviously flying up and down the potomac all the time. that is their flight path. whether it is a black hawk or any other helicopter that's going up and down. this was on a training mission. we are told. what is the visibility like around 8:50 p.m. eastern, whether you're on that flight, is it is it harder to land? is it easier because of the lights? what is that like? >> flying at night is a totally different set of risks. it's a totally different bailiwick than flying in the daytime. so in a helicopter, a training flight might be taking place so those pilots can keep their acuity on night vision goggles to just sort of get practice, get their reps in. um, helicopters fly through the airspace that is typically reserved for a large commercial airport, but is special at reagan national airport and talk to air traffic controllers there in the tower and coordinate with them. the rub here is that military aircraft, like the helicopter,

are often using a different set of frequencies. a uhf band, whereas civilian airplanes like the airliners on their on a vhf band. and so what. >> does that mean? does that mean that they don't hear what they say back? >> yeah. so essentially you don't hear both parts of the conversation. and i can tell you as a civilian pilot, i'm flying all the time. you can you can hear controllers speak to the military, but sometimes you don't hear the voice on the other end respond back. so you only hear one side of the conversation. so that could be a factor here. there are so many things unfolding right now. but really, you know, the investigators will first want to know what was on the voice recorder. what what were the controllers telling the the pilots of the helicopter and the pilots of the commercial flight? was there any sort of warning in the tower? were the controllers able to see this? it is a very helpless thing. as air traffic controllers in the in the tower will tell you when an incident happens, they are at their post and they are doing their job, and if they see an incident, sometimes there's nothing they

can do to to stop it or to change what fate is unfolding in front of them or to respond. >> well. and you talked about how busy that runway is, and they have other flights that are coming in as this was going on, and all of those have been grounded, no one took off. no one landed. after this. pete, the president was briefed earlier today. he issued a statement, but he just also posted this on truth social, saying the airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. the helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time, he said. is that a it is a clear night. the lights on the plane were blazing. why didn't the helicopter go up or down or turn? why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they ever saw the plane? this is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. not good. that is a statement from the u.s. president. the first statement we have seen directly from him on this after earlier the statement from the white house saying he had been briefed and god rest their souls. pete, what is your take on this? >> some of that is not

necessarily wrong. it is true that the that the flight was on a routine approach, and that is a normal approach that is often used. um, it was a clear night. it is a moonless night, but there are clearly lights on both airplanes, both helicopter and airplane. in this case, as we can see in the video, the insinuation here that that this helicopter may have been, for some reason, intentionally aiming at this commercial flight that is baseless. and and that is something that investigators will, of course, look at. but remember, this is a common route. it's a confluence of a corridor, several corridors used for helicopters all the time as they whizz up and down the potomac at a few hundred feet. typically they are clear of other airplanes. um, why this helicopter was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or why this flight was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or why just the timing was off, will be up to investigators to figure out. and we are at such the early stages. it is so, so, so

soon and way too early to speculate. >> pete muntean stand by. i want to get back to laura coates, who is live on the scene outside reagan national airport. laura, what are you hearing there? >> in just the last couple of minutes, we've seen an interesting turn of events in that the helicopter that has been circulating around this area primarily for the past several hours, in the area where the boats were that presumably had the divers, has now turned its attention to the shore area, and that light was able to allow us to see this is very shallow by the dock. you can actually see, brian, the pebbles on the ground, the dirt under the actual sand underneath the water. they are training their attention closer over here, you're seeing the current may have something to do with this possible. >> i mean, what what is very interesting, laura, you just described it. he's coming back for another pass. uh, near us now. >> it's been it's been at least 10 to 12 in the last several minutes in this one area. >> and he's shining a spotlight

on the water near us. and he's coming back right now, i think. well, he's he's really slowing down. i don't know whether we can get a shot of him. he's hovering above the water right over there. >> and where we are right now, by the way, there's all these docks and areas. this is a sailing area as well in the nation's capital. but he is slowing down. he is. attention. >> with the spotlight. >> and you can see. >> it moving kind of along the shoreline where it is. you and i have pointed out that he is. it is. and you can that's why he's got a glimpse of the bottom of the of the bottom of the river, because it's only about four feet where we are. it is incredibly shallow over here. uh, our colleague doug mcconnell, who has sailed along this section of the river, says it's very. >> very shallow over on the. >> other side, presumably where the plane is down. so we're. >> also we're also seeing cars look at there's cars coming towards, towards towards this

area. the flashing lights. go ahead brian yes. >> clearly something has struck their interest here. and what you know, if something or someone is drifting. >> from the wreckage site, it could be drifting this way, most likely drifting south to our right from here. and again, we just don't know the exact pinpointed location of where the plane is. we have seen boats over here, laura, as you and i have talked about all night long. straight ahead over here. that chopper was very near them until just a few minutes ago. what is he looking for here? it could be wreckage. it could be possibly bodies, but i. i tend not to think that they would be drifting this way. they would be drifting south if they were drifting at all. >> i'll notice. of course, the water has changed. about 20 minutes ago it was almost like glass on the actual surface of the water. and now with, of course, the passage pasteurized from the helicopter. you're seeing the water change, almost like a bit of a tide coming

towards the shore as they're continuing to pass through. could be, of course, the the velocity and the speed and the and the wind coming from the actual helicopters. but this attention on this area strikes a chord. >> it does. and this water is, you know, look, the potomac river is a tidal river. it's brackish. it's wide in this section. it's very shallow. those are all conditions that they have to deal with here. uh, maybe the shallow, the shallowness of the water helps them. uh, but again, we don't know. we need to know the pinpoint the location of where that plane is. and since it's pitch black out here, we just don't know. we we believe given where the staging areas are, again, to the left, where you see those red flashing lights, that's the end of the runway at reagan national airport. there's another staging area even further north to the left. you've got these boats straight ahead that have been here all night long. so we are not assuming we think we believe there's a possibility that that could be where the location of the plane is. but we just don't know. and there's a staging area to our right just to the south

that is anacostia-bolling the joint anacostia-bolling naval and air force base. and this chopper has been very, very busy for the last few minutes. >> and this chopper, by the way, caitlin had been circulating for quite some time, for hours, almost in the area where we saw those boats that had those divers on them training a spotlight on particular areas. this is the most movement that we have seen outside of that initial radius of the area that we believe they have focused their attention on. they seem to be away from that zone, even going even further south now towards the mount vernon area. of course, the first president, united states home. we are near the nation's capital. this is at the end of the runway for the national airport, close to the pentagon. a collision between a blackhawk helicopter and a passenger aircraft. knowing that there have been confirmed fatalities, we're waiting on a report, and this helicopter continues to do pass overs, right.

>> um, worth pointing out again, just how many military installations are near here. yes. how many of those military installations have helipads and small airstrips? the pentagon has a helipad. fort belvoir, virginia, which is near mount vernon, not far from here. that's where this blackhawk helicopter was based. they have a helipad. there are helipads all over. there's a helipad at the cia complex in mclean, virginia, north of the city. there are helipads all over this place. again, the air traffic with helicopters and small planes in addition to the passenger aircraft coming in and out of reagan national is extraordinary. on a given day, it is one of the busiest areas. and, um, you know, every time i have driven around this area and seen helicopters and planes crisscrossing, just you look up in awe at the skill of the air traffic controllers to be able to get the reading of all that and steer everyone around safely. i don't know how they do it, because these aircraft are going every which way all

the time, and you know, uh, i can't help but wonder, have now we have just a horrible accident as a result of. >> this, i can't help but wonder all the passengers who were on inbound flights to this very airport who were wondering why there was a delay, why they were in the air, why flights have been grounded, getting information in real time as the rest of us are. and here we are on this cold night here in washington, d.c.. and the unimaginable has happened. caitlin, a passenger aircraft colliding with a black hawk military helicopter here near the pentagon in the nation's capital. a whole of government approach happening. resources from virginia, from maryland, from washington, dc, knowingly. why? because here we are at the intersection of those three. jurisdictions. everyone with the same mission understanding why this has happened and can there be any life saved?

>> yeah. still no word yet on any survivors being pulled from the water where we know that plane and that black hawk both crashed and are in the water as of this moment, we are still waiting to hear more from officials this hour. we are expecting them to speak any moment now at the scene that you're looking at right here, reagan national airport, where that plane full of 60 people and four crew members was expected to land at about 8:48 p.m. just four hours ago. of course, moments before hitting the runway, they crashed with that black hawk helicopter. we are hoping to learn more from these officials. that was a u.s. park police helicopter flying over laura and brian todd there. as you're watching them outside of reagan national airport. cnn's pete muntean is here with me and pete. one other thing that we've learned, as we believe the ntsb chair will be here at this press conference along with the dc mayor. is that a go team has been launched to investigate this. obviously, this is something no one in the u.s. has seen in 16 years. what does that

even look like? >> it is a sad piece of irony here that the go team for the ntsb is based out of one of the hangars at reagan national airport. they they are investigating. uh, of an incident essentially a stone's throw from where they launch for some of the worst incidents we have seen lately, the go team launches for things like the bridge collapse and incidents far and wide. the ntsb needs to go to. it's an independent agency that really tries to get to the root cause of incidents, but it takes time. and the first thing that they need to do is essentially lay eyes on this. and that's especially hard to do on a moonless night in the potomac river. as what appears to be a very grim rescue mission may transition to soon into a recovery mission. and a source is telling me that no survivors.

zero survivors have been plucked from the water there in the potomac river. the water temperature about 35 degrees. it was a warmer day here in washington. you have just minutes before hypothermia sets in. and then the inevitable happens. this is a huge tragedy and something that will hit home for so many of these investigators who this is their backyard. this is our backyard. >> so typically if something happened and this go team was at the hangar at washington national airport, that is where they would launch from. they would that is where they would. >> assemble sometimes. and you know, most recently with the alaska airlines door plug blowout on a 737 max nine, which was not a barely a year ago, just over a year ago, they pile into the faa administrator's airplane. it's called november 1st and then fly out to the scene. in this case, they don't have to do that. they have to motor out to the scene and see what is there. and we know from a source on the scene that divers from pretty much every corner of the dmv, the dc,

maryland and virginia region are on the scene. but it is an incredibly treacherous scene, and it is something that diving at night is is not easy. it's it's a scary operation. >> and that park police helicopter that we just saw flying so low over laura and brian, it had helicopters circling over them all night, frankly. but we have not seen one that low. i mean, at that point, based on where they are on the river, is it looking for debris as well to help with this investigation? as they're piecing this together. >> they want to know where the parts of the airplane and helicopter are. and that has been primarily the mystery, at least to us here, because it is not readily apparent in the live images that we have been seeing all night. it is mostly boats congregated in one spot, congregated in another spot, helicopters flying over, um, you know, another sad twist of the story here is that park police helicopters heroically rescued people from the air florida

flight 90 crash back in the 80s. the last time that there was a really significant incident off the shores of reagan national airport. >> one thing that their officials are undoubtedly going to be asked about is what was communicated to the pilots of this plane, and to the pilots and the three members of the u.s. army who were on that black hawk helicopter. we do have some of the air traffic control sound, pete, that you've been going through where they're asking, do you have this in sight? they have the call signals. i want us to listen to it, and then i want you to to analyze it for us. >> ben singh sara ganim flight. tai sui pam bondi dahiyeh 2017. i don't know if he caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach. two, three, three. >> so you hear them saying they are past behind the american airlines flight. >> yeah. and that is something so key. you know it is one avoiding a collision in the air.

the typical way of avoiding a collision is just by eyeball. see and avoid. and so air traffic controllers in a radar facility or in a tower will ask an airplane clearly converging with another one on the radar scope. do you have that in sight? and the pilots of one or the other airplane will say, i'm searching, or i have the airplane or helicopter in sight? so that is very critical. and if this air traffic control audio is is valid and true and shows the full picture, and it's something that investigators will be able to pull from the tapes and the air traffic control tower, um, it will really sort of paint the picture of the warnings that took place before in the moments of this collision. >> because that's really going to be the i mean, even the president of the united states is raising that question amid some, some speculation online about what it is that was signaled to this. and this is the image, pete. we were just looking at this and getting this

pulled up right here. you can see the plane in the water of the potomac one. it is just striking to even see that that is the wing of the plane on the left, the fuselage, i believe, as you noted earlier, on the right side of this. tell us what we're looking. >> at here. i, i see the fuselage on the right side. obviously this is sort of obscured a little bit. and there's a police boat in the background there. looks from the metropolitan police department that is very clearly a wing of the crj 700. this flight from wichita to dca carrying 64 people on board in the left half of the screen, that looks to me to be the top of the wing submerged in the water when a midair collision happens. um, usually it looks kind of like a car wreck, and there's mangled metal and things come down in multiple parts, and investigators will be looking at which part hit the ground first and where they'll be able to piece that together. even use the radar data that they, the

air traffic controllers were using to warn of an impending collision, to find out where the pieces came down, they're actually able to see that track on their scope. if there is a bit of a radar return from a piece of metal. but but this is striking. >> to see that plane in the potomac. and let's listen. here's the d.c. mayor right now. >> hear me? okay. >> lactaid. sergey brin bytedance. thank you. >> i'm muriel bowser, i'm the mayor of washington, d.c. i'm at reagan national airport. i am joined by united states transportation secretary sean duffy, united states senator jim

moran, senator roger marshall, i'm jack potter, the ceo of the metropolitan washington airports authority. we are here to brief you on the very tragic events of this evening, where we know a passenger plane, uh, coming to the airport here collided with a military helicopter. our fire department, dc fire and ems, supported by fire departments and police departments from across the washington metropolitan region, are executing a rescue operation in the potomac river. they are working diligently and very dark and cold conditions. cold water to execute this rescue operation. we have had the opportunity to be briefed by

american airlines officials. i'm told that american airlines leadership is on the way to washington as well, and officials are in the airport talking to families. now, we do have a18 hundred number where families should contact us or excuse me, should contact american airlines for more information. and we will be providing that information shortly. i am going to turn to a number of officials to provide as much information as we can. this evening, and we expect to have more frequent, uh, briefings at daylight. so with that, i'm going to turn to secretary duffey. >> thank you, mayor bowser. um, i think for all of us, we want to extend our thoughts and prayers to those individuals who

were impacted by the events tonight, their families. we know this is a very difficult time for all of them. i want to join the mayor and everyone here to extend our. thank you to the first responders, who again, in very difficult, uh, situations and environments are out there searching and attempting to rescue. tonight, i spoke with president trump and his team in the situation room. i had a conversation with secretary pete hegseth as well, and then with the kansas delegation and the mayor and others in leadership, as well as governor youngkin from virginia and governor kelly from kansas, from the department of transportation and faa perspective, we are going to offer full support to those on the ground to the mayor, but also to the ntsb, who is going to be conducting the investigation in this matter. we

are going to provide all the support that's necessary. mayor. >> thank you. >> so with that, i want to ask chief john josh hawley from dc fire and ems to provide an update. >> good evening everyone. i'm john donnelly, chief of dc fire and ems. this evening at 8:48 a.m., an alert was sounded, initiating a region, a large regional response to a report of an aircraft crash on approach to the airport. this response includes, first, the metropolitan washington airports authority's fire department, the district of columbia fire department, the metropolitan police department, and the u.s. park police to respond into the area and to sort that out. at 858, the first units arrived on the scene and found an aircraft in the water and began rescue operations. this incident has grown. there is currently about 300 responders working. we have boats from all throughout the

region. police and fire boats. we have a mutual aid agreement in washington, d.c.. the national capital region mutual aid agreement administered by the metropolitan washington council of governments, and we are all operating under that. we're operating under a unified command. all everybody's together. so we also have requested state police helicopters from maryland and the coast guard helicopter is working. so this is a state and federal response as well. u.s. coast guard's got some boats in the water as well. so it's a highly complex operation. the conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders. it's cold. they're dealing with relatively windy conditions. the wind is hard out on the river, so they're out there working. we're keeping doing everything we can to keep them safe and with that, i'm going to turn it back to the mayor. >> thank you. >> um, in. chief bonnet from ny.

>> i'm rick bonnet, fire chief of ny fire and rescue. our unit as chief donnelly alluded to at 2048, we received a alert from the faa tower of an aircraft incident involving a commercial aircraft and a helicopter. our units immediately responded and deployed three boats and immediately called for mutual aid resources. again, as chief donnelly said, this is an active operation that's going to last many hours as we continue to work through recovery efforts and rescue operations. this will be ongoing for quite a while. um, our thoughts and prayers are with the families and our communities, and we appreciate all the support to our agency and our federal partners. >> thank you. >> so with that, i wanted to turn to the the senators who are from kansas, who wanted to say a few words. first, senator moran and