oh will you walk away will you walk on by ♪ ♪ come on, call my name will you call my name i say la, la, la ♪ ♪ la la la la la la la ♪ [ cheers and applause ] this is nightline. >> tonight. breaking news. a passenger jet and a military helicopter collide near reagan national airport. 64 people aboard the american airlines plane. three soldiers on the blackhawk helicopter. the collision captured by the earth cam at the kennedy center. now, the dramatic first images of the wreckage. the chilling audio.

>> how did you see that? the first thing you saw that? affirmative. >> the massive search and rescue effort in the frigid potomac river. happening right now. what we're learning tonight. >> nightline will be [ car engine revving ] refinement. and prestige. even a little can go a long way. and though they're darker than the darkest night. they make you see everything in a new light. get 1.9% apr for up to 60 months on the purchase of select new 2025 sportage and 2025 sorento models. still have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis... ...or crohn's disease symptoms after taking... ...a medication like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. when flares tried to slow me down,... ...i got lasting remission with rinvoq. check. and many were in remission... ...even at nearly 2 years. and rinvoq... ...helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting remission. and visibly reduced damage. check. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal;... ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin;... ...serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death;... ...heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus... ...with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection,... ...hep b or c, smoked,... (woman) oh, come on! come on! ...are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. put uc and crohn's in check... ...and keep them there. with rinvoq. (vo) fargo lets you do this: ask your gastroenterologist... ...about rinvoq. watched newscast. >> welcome back. we've been (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card! following the developing story of the plane crash happening (woman) i found it! i found my card! right in our nation's capital. the crash. horrible and tragic, (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card. but also shocking because it (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo. happened in one of america's most secure air spaces. i'm what else can fargo do?

quickly tell you what you spend on things like food. joined now by abc's sam sweeney, who covers transportation for (dad) fargo, what did i spend on groceries this month? us. thanks so much for joining us. first question in this post (son) hey dad, can the guys stay for dinner? nine over 11 world. many of us (dad) no... consider reagan national to be (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo. one of the safest airports in the country, if not the world. how could this kind of thing for all those making it big out there... happen this evening? >> i think that's going to be ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? the focus for this investigation. you have to be specially certified to fly into get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. reagan national airport. the approaches are extremely difficult, and we now know that introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. these aircraft were given now that's big. warnings that they were near each other. so they have to xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half figure out they saw each other. vs. t-mobile, verizon, and at&t for your first year. they had the warnings. why did they collide? plus, ask how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us. >> walk us through. is it normal for a military helicopter to be in that close proximity to a commercial airline? been saved. >> this is washington, d.c. it is. we are, you know, surrounded by military aircraft. we are, you know, just less than a mile from the pentagon at reagan >> good evening. thank you for national airport. these military joining us. as we come on the aircraft are going in and out of air tonight, a massive search the pentagon all day. you have and rescue operation is underway

coast guard helicopters that are in washington, d.c, in the based at reagan national airport, and they are, you know, frigid waters of the potomac bringing vips all over the river. just hours ago, a commuter jet and an army national capital region. you blackhawk helicopter on a training flight collided in don't see many private aircraft in the dca airport airspace, mid-air. at least 64 people were because it is because it is the most restricted airspace in the aboard the plane, and three soldiers were on board the entire country. and this is a helicopter. several bodies have been pulled from the water, and heavily congested airport. reagan national has the busiest so far, no survivors have been runway in the country. there are rescued. joining me now is abc's planes one after another. these alex presha in washington, dc. are highly trained air traffic alex, what can you tell us? controllers that handle this >> hey, brian. so first let me congested airspace. this is orient you a little bit. we are going to reverberate throughout on the departures ramp in the industry. we have been in between terminal one and the safest period in aviation terminal two. and you can see history in the united states this massive scene behind me, ever. and now that ended that sea of red lights from all tonight. >> sam sweeney from our bureau those first responder vehicles. in washington. sam, thank you so and then up there in the distance, that is a search very much. we know this will be a long night for you and our helicopter. it has been doing colleagues there. thank you. laps, performing a grid search >> thank you. here, trying to look for any >> when we come back, the latest on the crash outside washington. possible survivors of this crash. and that's because time is of the essence. byron. right now we're as we're getting further and further into the

night, the temperature has dipped now below 40 degrees about 38 last checked. and so for any potential survivors that are in the potomac behind me, time is of the essence. and because of that, we have seen a massive response. i'm talking about dozens of fire trucks, dozens of cop cars from different municipalities and different agencies, and also those search and rescue boats and dive teams now all making their way over there trying, trying to find any other possible survivors. >> thank you. alex. i'm joined now by abc news contributor and aviation consultant steve ganyard. steve, thank you for joining us tonight. you're a former military pilot. how does something like this happen at one of the busiest airports in the country? >> yeah. byron, whenever the ntsb does investigations into mishaps like this, they gather lots and lots of evidence. they aren't ready to say what caused this. but these days, there's so much data that we get

immediately that we can begin to draw some immediate conclusions. so we do know, because we have the tower tapes, that there was an army helicopter that was flying south down the potomac as this regional jet was landing at just on runway three three, which means it was just heading towards the northwest. so if you've been to dc sort of pointing at at the kennedy center, and so the helicopter is allowed to fly along the potomac, as long as it stays at 200ft. the tower said to the helicopter, do you see the regional jet in front of you? the helicopter acknowledged. we on the crash outside washington. what we've learned. ♪ good to go binge-watch. ♪ good to go out even later. ♪ with cabenuva, there's no pausing for daily hiv pills. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. it's two injections from a healthcare provider, as few as 6 times a year. don't take cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients, or taking certain medicines, that may interact. serious side effects include allergic reactions or rash, post-injection reactions, see it and we will avoid it. liver problems, and depression. if these occur, get medical help right away. tell your doctor about your medicines or supplements, medical conditions, liver or kidney problems, mental health, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. the most common side effect is injection site reaction ♪ with cabenuva, you're good to go. without daily hiv pills. talk to your doctor about switching. are you tired of your hair breaking after waiting years for it to grow? new pantene with more pro-vitamins, plus biotin & collagen. repairs as well as the leading luxury bonding brand. stronger, healthier hair, without the $60 price tag. if you know, you know it's pantene. ( ♪ ) feel the power of osteo bi-flex®. taken every day, it's clinically shown to improve joint comfort in 7 days, with significant improvement over time. ( ♪ ) morning. chris powell is here and he's got. healthier versions of your. fast food favorites now, what i think may have served up easy happened is that that helicopter crew misidentified the regional jet that they eventually hit. they may have seen another helicopter at night. you have lots of lights out there. the city of alexandria, the city of washington. and so they may have gotten drawn off on what was not their traffic. and they thought that they were clear, but unfortunately they weren't. and the mid-air collision occurred.

>> we're talking about a commercial jetliner and a military blackhawk helicopter. why, again, would a military aircraft, especially a military chopper, be so close to a commercial jetliner? >> the helicopters are flying up and down the potomac all day long and all night long. because of all of the things that go on in washington, dc that require helicopters, particularly in an emergency situation. so in this case, everybody seems to have done everything right. the helicopter was where it was supposed to be below 200ft. they were talking to the tower. the tower said, do you see this? the regional jet was on what we call short final. so maybe under 200ft. the crew in the regional jet are looking at the runway, and they're thinking about finding where their touchdown point is. the helicopter is crossing right to left. it's in their peripheral vision and they just don't see it. and it wouldn't set off any alarm in the in the regional jet. not necessarily. but and everybody was talking to everybody. and

everybody should have been where they were. and so the problem here was, is that it seemed to be a misidentification by the helicopter crew when they thought they had the regional jet, but they probably saw some other aircraft, and they were thinking that they were okay when they really weren't. >> we're in the early hours of this case. there's a recovery rescue mission going on right now. people are risking their lives in hopes of saving lives. survivors. we don't know about that at this point. but walk us through what the investigation likely looks like right now. what are people looking to do? what are the priorities right now? >> right now, byron, it's try to find somebody who may still be alive in the in the river. airports that are next to water have have crashed fire rescue both for on the land and in in the water. so san francisco laguardia at reagan. so they had crash boats out there. crash fire rescue boats out there. immediately they had divers

ready to jump in the water. so right now everything focuses on doing the best to find anybody that might still be alive. once that is no longer the task, then it becomes the task of the ntsb to figure out why did this happen? >> steve, a final question, if i may. we understand it was a moonless, moonless night in dc, dark as it could be. so would the pilots have been relying on what they could see around them, what they've been relying primarily on their instruments. >> it would have been visual because it's a nice night here in washington, d.c. byron. and they probably were on night vision goggles. now, i can tell you, having spent time on night vision goggles over water, it is really uncomfortable. you think helicopters, when you see them fly down the potomac before they're, you know, at 100ft or less. they like to fly low. it's fun to fly low in a helicopter, but in this case, when you're dave's been very excited about saving big with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. five years? -five years. and he's not alone. -high five. it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit. five years of a great rate that won't change. it's back. but only for a limited time. high five. five years? -nope. comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities. comcast business. i'm not happy with the way that pg&e handled the wildfires. yeah. yeah. i totally, totally understand. we're adding a ton of sensors. as soon as something comes in contact with the power line, it'll turn off so that there's not a risk that it's gonna fall to the ground and start a fire. okay. and i want you to be able to feel the improvements. we've been able to reduce wildfire risk from our equipment by over 90%. that's something i want to believe. [skateboard sounds] >> and finally tonight, a recap flying over water at night, you of what we know as we take a can't tell the sky from the live look at the crash site. water. it's vertigo inducing and just hours ago, a commuter jet flying from wichita, kansas, it's very uncomfortable. so i collided with an army blackhawk

would imagine that they were helicopter over the potomac stepped up at that 200 foot river near reagan national level just because it was more airport outside washington, dc. comfortable. and they could look outside and look at the horizon 64 passengers and crew were more and try to avoid any kind aboard the plane, which was of a spatial disorientation. so operated by american airlines. that's probably why they were at three soldiers were on board the an altitude where the regional helicopter. first responders jet was coming in and on short from across the region raced to final. so lots of things went the scene to help. a massive wrong. it was it was 4 or 5 search and rescue operation now underway for hours. there are things that could have been broken. this this chain of events could have been broken at multiple casualties. stay with any point. and tragically, it abc news. we'll have much more on this plane crash throughout wasn't. >> thank you steve. earlier tonight, american airlines ceo the night and on gma in the morning. that's nightline for robert isom making a statement. this evening. for the good men >> we are actively working with and women at the crash site and local, state and federal authorities on emergency the families involved. godspeed. response efforts. and the good night. american airlines care team has been activated to assist our >> abc's david muir, the most passengers and their families. watched newscast in america. 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. >> this crash is a terrible disaster. in the first major commercial jet crash in the u.s. in more than 15 years. tonight, tragedy at washington's reagan national airport. american eagle flight 5342 from wichita, kansas, coming in for landing, colliding with the u.s. army black hawk helicopter. this live stream from the kennedy center's earth cam webcam showing the explosion in the air. the plane, carrying 60 passengers and four crew. the black hawk, confirmed to have three army soldiers on board. tonight, the u.s. figure skating team confirming that several members were on board. >> did you see that thing? you saw there? affirmative. 832. >> sorry, i don't know if he caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach on the 33. we're going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future. if you want to go back to the gate. highly suggest you guys coordinate with company. let me

know what you want to do. >> all right. we'll let the company talking to them right now. yeah, we witnessed the whole thing. >> authorities addressing the incident at a late night press conference. >> at 848. an alert was sounded initiating a large regional response at 858. the first units arrived on the scene and found an aircraft in the water and began rescue operations. >> emergency crews rushing to the scene. divers in the potomac searching for any survivors. >> they are working diligently and very dark and cold. conditions. cold water to execute this rescue operation. >> so it's a highly complex operation. the conditions out there are extremely rough. they're dealing with a relatively windy conditions. the wind is hard out on the river. >> haunting images emerging tonight showing the debris as rescue crews search for survivors. ari shulman lives close to reagan airport in alexandria, virginia. >> so i just saw the plane and i

knew something was wrong because it was very, very close to the ground. it was maybe 80 or 100ft above the ground, banked all the way to the right. i saw that for all of you know, this was maybe two seconds that i was looking at it. i looked back at the road, i looked back again, and it was gone. i didn't see any crash into the ground. i didn't see a fireball or an explosion or flames. >> another eyewitness recounting what they saw. >> but when we went to the roof, it was insanity. police trucks, ambulances, command vehicles. >> reagan national airport was immediately shut down with no flights coming or going. an army official confirming the army h-60 helicopter originated out of fort belvoir, virginia. the airport director in wichita, kansas addressing the media. >> i don't have the exact time of when this incident occurred, but we were notified fairly shortly thereafter. it just breaks our heart to hear something like this occur. and

so it's devastating for everyone. >> kansas senator jerry moran describing flying the very route the plane took himself many times. >> i lobbied american airlines to begin having a direct nonstop flight service to dca. that flight has been in existence about a year. we're going to know people who are on this flight, know their family members, know somebody. so this is a very personal circumstance. >> this is the first major. >> commercial crash in the u.s. since the colgan air buffalo crash in 2009. there have been other incidents, like the asiana runway crash in 2013 where two people died. the last fatality on a plane was the woman who was partially sucked out of a southwest window in 2018. this has been the safest period for aviation in history. this crash will undoubtedly shake the industry. it's reminiscent of another tragic airline crash. january 1982 an air florida flight crashed into the potomac river. 74 people on board were

killed, five survived, rescued from the icy waters. the scope of tonight's collision is still unfolding. >> you know, when one person dies, it's a tragedy. but when many, many, many people die, it's an unbearable sorrow. it's a heartbreak beyond measure. >> joining me now is abc chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz on daingerfield island. >> byron, we are right on the banks of the potomac river. the mid-air would have occurred just behind where we are. you can see all the rescue and recovery vehicles. they have been out there for hours. this is also exactly the approach that regional jet would have made along very calm waters. very dark waters. tonight, approaching washington, d.c. you could have seen, as i can now, the washington monument, the u.s. capitol, a city full of lights. we've also heard helicopters all night and watched them circle this area

looking for any possible survivors, any possible rescue. sometimes there were three up there at a time. all had their lights on. it is a very grim night here on the banks of the potomac. byron. >> our thanks to martha. joining me now is greater d.c. resident jamie lynn, who witnessed from her own home some of the frantic search and rescue efforts by first responders. jamie lynn, thank you so much for joining us. you live near reagan airport. what is it like there right now? >> so right now it is still a very active scene. i'm still hearing just as much, if not more noise from emergency response specifically. now, i've heard quite an uptick in the number of aircraft over the area. so just assuming that there's more helicopters assisting in those search and rescue efforts. >> now, i know you said you didn't hear or see the actual collision, but when did you realize something was wrong? >> it was it was a normal wednesday. and i went to our local arlington. arlington community facebook group, where our neighbors will often post

news. and i saw that the most recent post was in a crash, and i rubbed my eyes thinking, like, here i look out my window because we have a direct line of sight to the airport where just a couple of hundred yards away and you just see this intense cluster of emergency response, and that's when the sinking feeling kind of hit that something really horrible had happened. >> i understand it's a moonless night over dc, so it's darker than dark there this evening. could in your wildest imagination could you have imagined in this post nine over 11 world, with so much focus on aviation security, that this kind of thing would have happened in the nation's capital? >> that's what i, you know, have been saying to my family and friends, is that when you live here in washington, d.c, and the immediate surrounding cities, you kind of feel immune to being someone that this could happen to or see this happen. we have one of the most regulated and looked after air zones in the

world. we have all eyes on the ground and in the air 24 over seven. and so to just kind of feel like that, that cloak of safety has been ripped away. you literally cannot fathom something like this happening here. >> jamie lynn, you live near reagan national airport. we are grateful for you tonight. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. have a good night. >> when we come back, how could such a dramatic crash happen in one of the most secure air one of the most secure air spaces in the world? i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. and adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight.

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