we soldiers of the blackhawk army helico ter. ~ . soldiers of the blackhawk army helic0pter-— soldiersk army helicoter. ~ . , . ., helicopter. we are switching from a rescue operation _ helicopter. we are switching from a rescue operation to _ rescue operation to recovery operation. at this point, =,.,,.saaai;¥,;?77 if there any survivors know if there any survivorsang�* we' - recovered 27 know if there any survivors and we recovered 27 people from the and one fromie 7 7 77 w "and” rm. plane and one from the helicopter. cctv _ plane and one from the helicopter. cctv pictures show the moment and low in the sky in impact and low in the sky in washington, dc, the �*and washingtonfijfigt'he'heticooter and” plane are washingtonfijfift�*he'heticooter and” plane are headed the plane are rapidly headed towards each other and can see the explosion. we see the crash quite clearly. in the cockpit was 28—year—old american airlines pilot sam lily. his father said he started his training six years ago and was to be on board engaged to be married. also on board was wendy schaefer, wife and mother childre

the plane collided mid-air with an army blackhawk helicopter carrying three people. the two aircraft crashed into the potomac river, where rescue crews have been working around the clock to recover bodies from the frigid waters. and we've just learned in the past hour, two black boxes from the jet plane have been recovered. we are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy, looking at the facts. we are all here because this is an all hands on deck event. we are going to leave no stone unturned in this investigation. so a lot of questions still about what went wrong. typically at reagan national airport, the air traffic control tower has one controller for commercial planes and another controller for helicopters. however, sources tell nbc news last night there were n two controllers. one controller was handling both the aircraft and the helicopters, which is allowed under faa standards. but that is not the ideal scenario. several members of congress also expressing concerns about the complex airspace in and out of the airport, also kwn as dca. on

the blackhawk from the north headed south. even if they could see the army blackhawk all they see is lights imposed upon the lights of the city. the arm' blackhawk said they had the crj in sight. looking up, if they could see it at night all they are seeing is a few position lights. it takes a few seconds to understand how those position lights translate into the flight path of the aircraft and analyze that to see if they are on a collision course. >> dana: what might have been happening was when they say they see the aircraft in front of them, there is one that they are taking off and landing simultaneously constantly at this airport, right? >> absolutely. so there may have been some confusion which aircraft they were supposed to look at. even if they saw the correct crj, just seeing it is one thing. understanding how your flight path and its flight path will affect each other is a completely different story. >> bill: thanks for jumping on with us. appreciate your insight. thank you very much. couple things going on. various reports the president will come

army blackhawk helicopter also killing three u.s. service members, an army captain, staff sergeant and chief warrant officer. 67 lives lost in an instant. and last night as friends and family of the victims prayed for a miracle, there was little hope. because after that collision in the sky, both aircraft plummeted into the potomac river, the icy waters were waist deep and about 35 degrees. tonight we spoke with d.c.'s fire chief moments before he went to meet with those victims' families. when you go into a meeting like that, what goes through your head? what do you want to tell them? # >> they're going to ask us questions and we're going to do our best to answer those questions with the facts. >> reporter: the first officer of the american airlines flight was sam lilley, his father posting he was so proud when sam became a pilot. also on the flight, some of the country's most promising young figure skaters who were in wichita at a training camp. >> they're our brothers and sisters. we're all very close. >> reporter: the skating club

soil in more than 20 years. 67 people are confirmed dead today after a passenger jet and an army blackhawk helicopter collided in washington, dc. it happened near the reagan washington national airport, also called the dca. around 645 last night, american eagle flight 5342 from wichita, kansas, was just minutes away from landing. 60 passengers and four crew members on board the plane collided mid-air with an army blackhawk helicopter carrying three people. the two aircraft crashed into the potomac river, where rescue crews have been working around the clock to recover bodies from the frigid water. at least 40 have been recovered so far. among the victims, several members of the u.s. figure skating community. a moment of silence held during the broadcast today of the european figure skating championships in estonia. the skaters, coaches and their family members were returning home from a training camp at the u.s. championships in wichi, kansas. two former figure skating world champions from russia also confirmed among the victims tonight. ntsb officials are assuring the public that they wil

how does a blackhawk army helicopter crash into a passenger jet landing at reagan international.this hour i wish i had the answers i can't tell you how or why this happened. but we are gleaning information which is quite alarming as according to a report last night's mid air collision was preceded by months and years of near misses and safety warnings. in 2023 there were 19 near misses at airports across the country that is one of the largest totals in many years. and in 2024 it was more of the same including at reagan national were multiple collisions were narrowly avoided. look at the headline from may o. federal officials investigated another close call between planes at reagan national airport. and an expert report sent to the faa underbite and warned directly america traffic control system is suffering from quality control issues and staffing shortages putting safety at risk. they were warned repeatedly. and "the new york times" tonight reported control towers staffing at reagan national airport was not normal during last night's deadly crash. according to cbs news when air

soldiers on that army blackhawk helicopter. again, the news this morning investigators say there were no survivors. >> crews worked heroically through the night. darkness, high winds, frigid temperatures adding to the difficulty of their work. and they remain on the scene at this hour. >> we can tell you among the victims, members of the figure skating community who were returning from a camp, a development camp, held at the recent u.s. championships in wichita. just moments ago we learned that six members of the skating club of boston are among the fatalities. its ceo releasing a statement saying we are devastated and completely at a loss for words. >> we have complete coverage this morning. we're going to start with nbc's tom costello. he's been on the scene throughout the night. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: just horrific, horrific crash here. as we said, there are no survivors at this point. 64 people on board that plane, 3 army crew members on board that blackhawk helicopter. it went down just before 9:00 last nig

details on that just yet, but both the american eagle flight, with 64 people on board and the army blackhawk with a crew of three, fell into the 36 degree frigid potomac river. reagan national is closed until late this morning, and we, of course, will have much more on this story in this half hour. >> we're going to turn to some other headlines this morning. now, president trump pushing forward with his immigration agenda as ice agents carry out more raids. trump is looking to house tens of thousands of illegal immigrants at guantanamo bay. abc's zohreen shah has more. >> president trump. >> directing undocumented migrants to guantanamo bay before they're deported to their home countries. >> some of them are so bad, we don't even trust the countries to hold them because we don't want them coming back. >> the pentagon and dhs now prepare to send migrants to the same u.s. naval base, where some of the worst terrorists are detained. defense secretary pete hegseth, who served there, tells fox news the facility is not going to be the same one used for enemy combatants. >> so there. >> are places

seconds from landing with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an army blackhawk helicopterpeople on board, including an experienced pilot, according to military officials. both aircraft plunged into the river below. the army has not identified the crew in the blackhawk, which we've learned was conducting routine night training in the busy airspace. nbc news is also reporting from sources involved in the investigation that a preliminary faa internal report on the collision found staffing in the air traffic control tower at reagan washington national airport was, quote, not normal for the amount of air traffic and the time of day. the tower typically has a controller who focuses on helicopter traffic, but at the time of the crash last night, the source tells nbc news, one controller was overseeing both airplane and helicopter activity. faa guidelines do allow for this position to be combined. president trump today questioning the helicopter role in the deadly crash. the helicopter obviously was in the wrong place at the wrong time. the big question tonight, why the ntsb now c

army soldiers were on board the blackhawk, 67 killed. 14 of those individuals were from the u.s. figure skating community, six of them from a historic boston skating club known to be one of the most prestigious training grounds in figure skating. the ntsb, now on scene and investigating, saying it will be looking at multiple factors leading up to the collision. the body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist deep water. the wreckage of the helicopter was also located. ktvu zac sos live tonight here in studio with the latest on the investigation. zach. >> and mike, as you mentioned, recovery efforts suspended for the night. the question now how this happened. >> is flight. >> less than 30s before a u.s. army blackhawk helicopter collided with american airlines flight 542 late wednesday, air traffic controllers at reagan national airport in washington, dc, asking the military pilot if they had the passenger jet in sight and instructing them to fly behind it. >> this club has an aircraft in sight separation. >> this separation. >> that would be the last contac

army soldiers that were on board this blackhawk. so as of right now, that is the extent of what we know. still trying to get more information from the pentagon. and we should note as well, that the secretary of defense, pete hegseth, he tweeted that he is monitoring the situation very closely and also trying to get as much information as he can at this point. >> abbey at fort belvoir, not too far, actually, from reagan airport, just down the potomac from reagan, one of the many military bases in that area where you would have aircrafts like this flying to and from their bases to other bases, perhaps carrying vips in this case, only three crew members were on board. no vips on board. that chopper. natasha, thank you for that reporting. i want to go to miles o'brien now. he's our aviation analyst. miles, there's a lot to unpack here about what may have occurred. you heard pete talking there. about what? the pilots may not have been able to see. if they were visually trying to see another aircraft in their path. but we also heard from

according to an army official, the instructor pilot on the blackhawk was conducting a training mission. he had about 1000 flight hours. his copilot was being evaluated, had about 500 hours. now the crash comes after three incidents of close calls involving helicopters near reagan national airport reported in the last three years. the ntsb today said it hopes to have a preliminary report within 30 days. but as you can tell, flights are now still have begun taking off again from the airport. we're also learning more about those killed tonight. according to u.s. figure skating, athletes and coaches and family members returning home from a development camp in wichita, kansas, were aboard, the skating club of boston said. among those dead are a married pair of skaters who won the 1994 world championships. also, several young skaters from other clubs were on board, including two sisters age 11 and 14 years old, along with their parents. we'll bring you more about who was on board throughout this hour as we learn. i want to start right now with our aviation correspondent, pete muntean. pete,

blackhawks. you also spoke to a former pilot? >> reporter: i did. an army blackhawk pilot i spoke to last night, who spent his entire career in helicopters and has flown these routes frequently on training missions, and not training missions. he said it is difficult at night when you are there in the darkness. that you look and see the city. i was there last night. the city was lit up. the washington monument, the capitol, as you come down the river. that's also likely what the pilot of that helicopter was seeing as well. >> george: thanks, martha. robin? >> robin: going to bring in our aviation contributor colonel steve ganyard. i know you've been on this from the very beginning, steve. any possible causes that you can pick up by the video that we've all been seeing, steve? >> yeah. robin, the video that we have shows both aircraft were on a collision course. you don't see any movement out of either aircraft. i'm pretty convinced both aircraft thought they were going to be clear and this wouldn't result in a collision. there was no movement away from the o

the water recovering bodies after an american airlines' jet carrying 64 people collided with an army blackhawk helicopter. as the plane was about to land at ronald reagan national airport last night. at least 28 bodies pulled from frigid waters. rescuers believe that there are no survivors. while we don't know the names of the victims, we can tell you u.s. figure skating says several of its members and their families and trainers were on board that flight returning from a training camp. the moment of collision also caught on camera. that camera right there showing the lights of the plane blinking in the distance and then all of a sudden, a bright light it appears to be an explosion before the plane and the helicopter plummet into the potomac. investigators say the military helicopter was on a training flight. but the crew of three that were based out of virginia. now while 300 first responders look for more than 30 bodies in that icy water, the national transportation safety board leads that investigation. >> these responders found extremely frigid conditions. they found heavy wind, they found

army blackhawk helicopter. the. the search will resume tomorrow. the recovery efforts. kayla tausche has more details now on some of those who lost their lives. >> families descending. >> on reagan national. airport to remember the. >> children, coaches. >> crew members and. >> soldiers all killed in. >> the deadliest. >> air crash on. >> u.s. soil. >> since 2001. >> the crew aboard flight 5342 included captain jonathan campos and first officer sam lilley. the 28 year old, recently engaged to be married. his dad timothy, saying i was so proud of sam when he became a pilot. now it hurts so bad i can't even cry myself to sleep. 53 year old ian epstein, one of the two flight attendants on board, remembered by his sister as someone who loved life, traveling, family and his job. >> today is. heartbreaking and there are flight attendants all around the world who are identifying with those two flight attendants, whether they knew them or not. >> in the d.c. area, school districts are in mourning and offering resources with students and alumni among the dead. a virginia congres

just hours ago, a commuter jet and an army blackhawk helicopter on a training flight collided in mid-air 64 people were aboard the plane, and three soldiers were on board the helicopter. several bodies have been pulled from the water, and so far, no survivors have been rescued. joining me now is abc's alex presha in washington, dc. alex, what can you tell us? >> hey, brian. so first let me orient you a little bit. we are on the departures ramp in between terminal one and terminal two. and you can see this massive scene behind me, that sea of red lights from all those first responder vehicles. and then up there in the distance, that is a search helicopter. it has been doing laps, performing a grid search here, trying to look for any 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

the plane collided mid-air with an army blackhawk helicopter carrying three people. the two aircraft crashed into the potomac river. about 40 of the 67 bodies recovered so far. the recovery operation will resume first thing tomorrow morning. among those killed, sam lilly. he was the copilot of the passenger plane. lilly was originally from richmond hill, georgia. he attended georgia southern university before pursuing his aviation career. tonight, he's being remembered by a friend and former track teammate for his kindness and positivity. i remember days in track, you know, coming into practice. everybody's tired. everybody is, you know, beat from the workout. and he's very uplifting. never complained once, you know, just very motivating as a person and as a teammate. no matter the conversation, no matter the topic. he was very just a very kind soul. 14 of the victims have been identified as members of the figure skating community on their way back from the u.s. championship, some bay area figure skaters were among those at the championship and knew some of the victi

last night, an american airlines flight from kansas collided with a blackhawk army helicopter.here were no known survivors. it was the deadliest air crash in 24 years. during a 40-minute press conference this morning, president trump spent two of those minutes offering words of comfort and sympathy to the victims and their families, and 38 minutes blaming biden and pete buttigieg and diversity. i'm not sure donald trump knows he's the president. remember when he waited ten minutes after the wildfires started in la before he started blaming dei? well, i guess he learned from that lesson because, this time, he slept on it, and then started pointing that little orange nub. [ laughter ] >> tod sure the controllers made any mistakes, said perhaps the helicopter pilots were the ones who made the mistakes -- >> it's all under investigation. >> i understand that. that's why i'm trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash. >> because i have common sense. [ audience moaning ] and unfortunately, a lot of people don't

. >> reporter: blackhawk army helicopter a female pilot with 500 hours flying time.lso being evaluated on this routine nighttime training mission had logged over 1000 flight hours. the defence secretary pete hegseth describes them as fairly experienced and he ordered a 48 hour operational pause for the army aviation battalion involved in the crash. >> 3 soldiers young captain staff sergeant and cw to chief officer on a routine annual retraining of night flights on the standard corridor for continuity of government mission. i think the president is right there was some sort of an elevation issue. >> the flight sealing for helicopters and the dz capital region is 200 feet at its not clear how high they were flying. the army aviation director and chief of staff told reporters here at the pentagon the pilots and crew were familiar with the route and area and were with the unit for some time. it was a routine training mission. military helicopters and other government helicopters to fly this route on almost a daily basis. the president choice for army secretary was asked

video showing the terrifying moment in american airlines regional jet collides mid-air with an army blackhawkhere was a gasp from the control tower. how did you see that? 72 american eagle flight 542 was on final approach to land at reagan washington national airport when the collision happened. american airlines says the aircraft was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. a u.s. military official saying its helicopter was flying a training flight and three people were on board. both aircraft are in the water. several agencies are involved in a search and rescue operation in the potomac river. this incident has grown. there are currently about 300 responders working. we have boats from all throughout the region, police and fire boats. the conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders. it's cold. they're dealingith relatively windy conditions. the wind is hard out on the river. the reagan washington national airport closed shortly after the crash. some flights were diverted to nearby dulles airport. i don't know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collisio

officials would only say in terms of the blackhawk army helicopter that the pilot was experienced, asy said, but not going into any more detail beyond that at this point, the investigation gets taken over completely by the ntsb, the national transportation safety board. we're expecting some kind of an update from ntsb officials later on today. specifically when we're not sure. again, secretary duffy, the newly sworn-in department of transportation secretary wants to reassure americans that he says the u.s. still has the safest airspace of anywhere in the world. that's the latest here in washington. we'll send it back to you guys in san francisco because you just brought up the airspace. and president trump had mentioned the air traffic control. >> i'm wondering, have you heard anything about how well that staffed in any angle on investigating the air traffic control and who had the right of way will kind of instructions they were yet. >> yes, we don't know any specifics right now about the specific transmissions between either of those aircraft and the tower officials didn't get into

. >> with controllers asking the army blackhawk helicopter if it could see american airlines flight 5342, and instructing the pilot to pass behind it. moments later, air traffic controllers watched the two aircraft collide. >> 231 seven did you see that? >> since the crash, search and rescue operations have now transitioned into recovery operations. following the news that all 64 people aboard the plane and three soldiers on the helicopter died in that collision. the national transportation safety board now has teams on scene searching the potomac for critical recordings of the moments before impact. >> we are all here because this is an all hands on deck event, and we're here to assure the american people that we are going to leave no stone unturned. >> ntsb members said they briefed the president and vice president, as well as the secretaries of defense and transportation. president trump, speaking to the media today, offering insight into some of the factors leading up to the collision, saying the airplane was on track for a routine landing along a customary flight path. >> he's comin

no one survived when an american airlines flight and a blackhawk army helicopter collided here almost exactly 24 hours ago. the aftermath has been nothing short of devastating for the families of the 67 people who were on board that plane are inside that helicopter. so far, somewhere around 40 bodies have been pulled from the icy waters of the potomac river, and sources familiar with the recovery efforts believe about 14 are still missing in the water tonight. four, i am told, are said to be accounted for, but they are pinned inside that plane. still, two u.s. army soldiers inside the helicopter have yet to be removed. and we are told a crane to salvage what is left of the aircraft is about 24 to 48 hours away from being used here on the potomac. and we've also just learned tonight that searchers have recovered both of the black boxes from the plane. obviously, that will be a huge help to investigators who tonight are vowing to determine how this midair disaster happened, while also urging the public not to speculate. transportation officials say they just don't know yet about the cau

army has officially released the names of two of the three soldiers on board the blackhawk. 28 year old staff sergeant ryan austin o'hara from lilburn, georgia, and 39 year old chief warrant officer two andrew lloyd eaves from great mills, maryland. the rainy, dreary weather on the potomac river right now matches the somber tone here in washington, d.c., and complicates an already difficult recovery effort for the divers. cnn's danny freeman has more on the search for victims and for answers. >> surveillance video obtained by cnn. >> showing the final. >> moments before the two aircraft collide. the type of evidence. investigators are. >> sure to. >> examine carefully. as they work to determine. >> what happened. >> we take everything. >> serious. every potential. >> scenario, so it's helpful as we see. >> all these different new. >> pieces of evidence, whether it be eyewitness or video. in this case, those. things help give us a lot more details. >> in the video, you can see the black hawk. helicopter flying seemingly. as normal straight into the descending passenger jet. >> neither ai

it involved an american eagle regional jet with 60 passengers and four crew members, and an army blackhawkicopter with three army soldiers on board. this happened near washington, dc. now you're taking a live look at the potomac river and those lights out there. you can see, actually boats on that river where the search effort is underway. we do know from a press conference held just within the last half hour that there are about 301st responders out there searching those waters for any sign of survivors. we are told that the water is murky. it's dark. and in the area where they think the planes went down, you're talking about eight feet of water. this is another look at the scene near where this is happening. you can see the amount of emergency crews out there. again, in this press conference, they would not say anything about survivors or casualties. they simply would just say it is too early yet. but again, this happened 9 p.m. eastern, 6 p.m. our time and we are still waiting for any updates. >> all right. a captured camera did capture the midair collision. here it is. as it happened.

it is now underway after an american airlines regional jet collided with an army blackhawk helicopter river. we have the latest straight ahead. we also keep you up to date and up to speed on the markets futures. they are trading higher after some widely held tech names reported earnings, microsoft and tesla among them. plus reaction to yesterday's fed policy announcement and the path for interest rates. it is thursday, january 30th, 2025 and squawk box begins right now. good thursday morning and welcome to squawk box right here on cnbc. we're live at the nasdaq market site in times square. i'm andrew ross sorkin along with leslie picker and mike santoli. joe and becky are both off today, but there is a lot, a lot going on both in the markets. and also we want to talk about what's happening in washington dc, which you're going to learn about. if you have not heard overnight, let's take a quick look at us equity futures before we get into all of that. the dow right now up about 173 points. the nasdaq up about 92 points. the s&p 500 up about 18 points. but right now we want to get to wha

four crew members and the three soldiers on the army blackhawk helicopter. stay tuned to fox news and this fox station for the latest on this breaking news reporting from washington. i'm caroline shively. >> this is ktvu, fox two news at noon. >> and good afternoon. i'm gasia mikaelian. we just saw the national transportation safety board updating its investigation into the deadly midair crash that happened in arlington, virginia, between a commercial plane and military helicopter. let's get straight to the latest here. that plane was an american eagle flight 5342 from wichita, kansas, was carrying 60 passengers, four crew members, when it collided mid-air with a u.s. army black hawk helicopter while attempting to land at reagan washington national airport. the helicopter was carrying three crew members. the two aircraft crashed into the potomac river, where a rescue operation has become a major recovery effort. there were no survivors on either craft so far. dozens of bodies have been pulled from the frigid waters of the potomac, according to u.s. figure sk

the army, for its part, still really trying to get its arms around what exactly happened here. it's worth noting that these blackhawks, they fly around d.c. all the time, they take off and they land right here at the pentagon, and they often are carrying senior u.s. army officials. that was not the case last night, but there are obviously going to be a lot of questions here about why that blackhawk did not appear to be able to get out of the way of that passenger plane, something that they will be obviously looking into and investigating with the faa, with the ntsb, with the broader department here in the hours to come. john. >> all right. natasha bertrand at the pentagon. >> all right. >> let's go back, live. >> to the scene where rene marsh has been all this morning. what are you learning about those families? who are many of them waiting at dca, waiting to hear any word from authorities about the the loved ones who they are hoping beyond hope may have survived this right. >> so so what we know is that we're expecting. we're hearing we're expecting several press conferences today from the ntsb, from the mayor of wa

blackhawk. >> helicopter was carrying three u.s. army soldiers. officials believe there are no survivors. >> from this tragic incident. >> and what marks the first commercial. >> airplane crash. >> on. u.s. soil in 16 years? joining us now is nbc's aaron gilchrist. aaron, what's the very. >> latest at this hour? >> well, jose, as we understand it, search and recovery crews are still in the water at this hour. we learned from the dc fire chief earlier this morning that 27 bodies had been recovered from the airplane that went down in the water here, and one body had been recovered from the helicopter that went down. all of those remains have been turned over to the d.c. medical examiner. the fire chief did say that he expects that they will be able to find all of the people who were involved in this accident. that number likely has grown since we got that update. the number of people whose remains have been found has likely grown since we got that update around 730 this morning. the dc fire chief said, though, that they are getting their their numbe

the other aircraft was an army blackhawk that had three members of the army on that plane.h planes are in the water. the american airlines plane has been split in two. it's in about seven feet of water. the helicopter is upside down, also in the water. they're struggling. at the moment. about 300 rescue workers are struggling to try and find people. it's dark. the only lights you see are lights that are coming from the boats and the helicopters in the air that are putting lights onto us. joining us again is alan deal. he's a former investigator for the national transportation safety board. it's got obviously a great deal of aviation experience and a great deal of water rescue experience. alan, talk to me about this this water rescue. we're not getting anything that sounds more hopeful by the moment. we are hearing about recovery. we're hearing about bodies. we are hearing from the hospitals in the region that no one has been transported to a hospital. there, the job of the rescuers is to keep going. while this is a recovery effort, but it's cold water and we haven't heard o

the other aircraft was an army blackhawk that had three members of the army on that plane. both planes are in the water. the american airlines plane has been split in two. it's in about seven feet of water. the helicopter is upside down, also in the water. they're struggling. at the moment. about 300 rescue workers are struggling to try and find people. it's dark. the only lights you see are lights that are coming from the boats and the helicopters in the air that are putting lights onto us. joining us again is alan deal. he's a former investigator for the national transportation safety board. it's got obviously a great deal of aviation experience and a great deal of water rescue experience. alan, talk to me about this this water rescue. we're not getting anything that sounds more hopeful by the moment. we are hearing about recovery. we're hearing about bodies. we are hearing from the hospitals in the region that no one has been transported to a hospital. there, the job of the rescuers is to keep going. while this is a recovery effort, but it's cold water and we haven't hea

the other aircraft was an army blackhawk that had three members of the army on that plane. both planes are in the water. the american airlines plane has been split in two. it's in about seven feet of water. the helicopter is upside down. also in the water. they're struggling. at the moment, about 300 rescue workers are struggling to try and find people. it's dark. the only lights you see are lights that are coming from the boats and the helicopters in the air that are putting lights onto us. joining us again is alan deal. he's a former investigator for the national transportation safety board. it's got obviously a great deal of aviation experience and a great deal of water rescue experience. alan, talk to me about this, this water rescue. we're not getting anything that sounds more hopeful. by the moment we are hearing about recovery, we're hearing about bodies. we are hearing from the hospitals in the region that no one has been transported to a hospital there. the job of the rescuers is to keep going while this is a recovery effort, but it's cold water and we haven't hear

a regional passenger jet has collided with an army blackhawk helicopter in midair while on approach ton national airport near washington, d.c. the plane crashed into the potomac river. cbs news has confirmed it was an american airlines flight that departed from wichita, kansas. there is now an active rescue operation underway to get any survivors in the plane out of the water. all flights at reagan national are under a ground stop right now. there is a massive response from emergency crews, d.c. fire, and police on the scene as well as the coast guard. again, that commercial jet was on final approach not far from landing when it collided somehow with the blackhawk helicopter. american airlines is saying it is aware of reports that the flight operated by a regional airline was involved. we will keep you updated as we learn more. we'll certainly have more throughout the evening on pix+, also, at 11:00, but again, regional passenger jet colliding with a blackhawk helicopter in midair on approach to reagan national airport. of course, all incoming and outgoing flights have been halted as w

with controllers asking the army blackhawk helicopter if it could see american airlines flight 5342, and instructing the pilot to pass behind it. moments later, air traffic controllers watched the two aircraft collide. >> icu 31 seven. how did you see that? >> since the crash, search and rescue operations have now transitioned into recovery operations. following the news that all 64 people aboard the plane and three soldiers on the helicopter died in that collision. the national transportation safety board now has teams on scene searching the potomac for critical recordings of the moments before impact. >> we have not recovered the flight data recorders yet. we know they're there. they are underwater. >> ntsb members said they briefed the president and vice president, as well as the secretaries of defense and transportation. president trump, speaking to the media today, offering insight into some of the factors leading up to the collision, saying the airplane was on track for a routine landing along a customary flight path. >> he's coming in the path, and for some reason, you had a h

army blackhawk helicopter. d to have perished in this accident. 64 were on the american airlines jet, three were on the helicopter operated by the us army. reagan national is just 20 minutes away from reopening. the ntsb will be leading this investigation. they've already got investigators who were there on the scene. the president is going to be talking about this coming up in about 20 minutes at 11:00 eastern time. a lot of what we know so far is based in part on this security cam footage, which shows the helicopter colliding with the american airlines regional jet. it happened about 300ft above the surface. and we know that the transportation secretary says that both of the pilots involved here, they were in touch with air traffic control. in addition, the transportation secretary says he believes that this was a preventable accident. why? he says that he didn't go into a whole lot of details during the press conference that was held not too long ago, by the way, the jet broke into three pieces, which all lan

army blackhawk helicopter collided with american airlines flight 542. late wednesday, air traffic controllers at reagan national airport in washington, >> dc, asking the military pilot if they had the passenger jet in sight and instructing them to fly behind it. >> the club has an aircraft in sight. separation. separation. >> that would be the last contact the tower would have with the army chopper. just moments later, the crash. >> they collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach. and at this time, we don't know why the military aircraft came into the path of the psa aircraft. >> all 67 aboard the two aircraft now believed to be dead. as crews continue their recovery effort on the potomac river, according to fox news, the faa now shedding new light on staffing issues the night of the crash with reports that it was, quote, not normal. lawmakers demanding answers. >> the faa suggests that shortages in air traffic control, which are not just at reagan national, but they've been national level shortages, may have contributed. could th

know that there were 64 people aboard that passenger aircraft, and then three people aboard that army blackhawk helicopter. so we are still waiting to hear more details about who these people might be, who, whether there are any survivors and of course, what kind of answers their families are getting in this very tragic moment. >> all right. arlette saenz for us at ronald reagan national airport. arlette, thank you very much for that reporting. and coming up next here on cnn, we are going to speak live to a witness of that midair collision between a black hawk helicopter with three on board and that american airlines commercial jet with 60 passengers and four crew aboard. we're also going to learn a little bit more about what we're hearing from the u.s. figure skating community, all that and more as we continue to cover this breaking news right here on cnn. >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you returns february 15th on cnn. >> unnecessary action heroes. >> missing. >> punches, unnecessary. >> check reversals, unnecessary time sheet corrections, unnecessary unanswered sick time. get paycom

jet collided with an army blackhawk helicopter over the potomac river near washington, dc. good evening everyone. i'm mike mibach. behind me is a live look out at the airport there in virginia right now. the plane was found in the river upside down in three sections in waist deep water. the wreckage of the helicopter also located. joining us now in studio with the latest on the investigation. ktvu christien kafton christian. >> yeah. now we are following some reports that at least one of the black boxes has been found. meanwhile, the recovery operation is still underway. investigators are poring over the scene trying to learn what led to this deadly collision. recordings from air traffic control in the washington, d.c. area paint a chilling picture of the moments leading up to the deadly crash. >> flight. >> with controllers asking the army blackhawk helicopter if it could see american airlines flight 5342 and instructing the pilot to pass behind it. moments later, air traffic controllers watched the two aircraft collide. >> and one seven. how did you see that? >> since the

officials say they are now scrutinizing over the military pilot's actions on that army blackhawk helicopter in this country's deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century. a nation desperate for answers after an army black hawk helicopter collided with american airlines flight 5342. the aircraft's exploding in a fireball before falling into the potomac river below. >> the crash, crash, crash, this is alert three. crash, crash, crash, this is alert three. >> all 64 people on the jet and three soldiers in the helicopter were killed. tonight, we're learning more about the victims from the plane's crew. first officer samuel lilly. 14 of the victims were figure skaters, their families and coaches flying from the national championships and the national development camp in wichita. several part of the skating club of boston. nancy kerrigan, an alumna of the program, in tears. >> i feel for the athletes, the skaters, their families. but anyone that was on that plane, not just the skaters, because it's just such a tragic event. >> skater spencer lane, only 16 years old, his father speakin

. >> army blackhawk. >> over the potomac. >> river in washington, d.c. >> president trump set to address this crash. >> in the next. >> hour, we'll break down what. >> we know as this mission moves from rescue to recovery. we are also following. >> news on. >> the hill where senators are holding. confirmation hearings this morning for. >> president trump's picks for fbi director. >> and the director of national intelligence. you see there, kash patel on your left. >> tulsi gabbard's hearing. >> will get underway here shortly, and both will face intense lines of questioning. hello. i'm ana cabrera. thanks for joining us. we begin with the recovery mission unfolding in washington, d.c. following that air disaster. >> over the. >> potomac river. >> at this hour. >> there are believed. >> to be no survivors. >> after a. midair collision. >> between an american airlines jet and a. >> u.s. army helicopter. 60 passengers and four crew on board that. >> commercial flight. >> another three on board the blackhawk. >> officials have. >> now recovered nearly. >> 30 bodies so far. >> after hours of o

there were no survivors. to the airport after flying in from witchita kansas last army blackhawk helicopter and the first since 2009. while it's not clear what caused this accident at this point, the new york times is reporting that was, "not normal" for the time of day or the volume of day — that's according to our us media partners cbs news. inman became emotional speaking about the victims later today, we will briefing the families. we formally try to this before formally try to do this before a media but in this aimiedia event. but in this they're arriving. case, they're still arriving. our assistance our family assistance specialists are already working ;§q;e;;€:l§;li5t5 are already working with local sgyegcgiaglists are already working with local officials others to assist them -=—= their efforts to support 7-7 thatis by accident. let 7 accident. let me 7 accident. let mejust this accident. and let mejust reiterate what the chair said — loss of life in an aviation reiterate what the chair said — loss of is e in an aviation reiterate what the chair said — loss of is veryan aviation rei

army blackhawk helicopter collided with an american airlines flight over the potomac river in d.c. wednesday night. by thursday morning, officials confirmed there were no survivors. >> to the best of our knowledge, 14 skaters returning home from the national development camp at wichita, kansas, put on by u.s. figure skating, were lost in the plane crash at washington, d.c. >> six of the victims were from the skating club of boston, including teenage athletes, their moms, and a married set of coaches. >> they were our future. so it was like it was mostly really promising. promising future skaters that passed away and their parents. >> 24 year old anthony ponomarenko is a san jose native. he was in kansas competing in the national figure skating championships, even snapping this candid photo with other competitors from the rink. he woke up to a frantic call from his parents at 3 a.m. >> first, the media outlets mentioned a whole bunch of names and i was one of them. so my parents called me panicked, thinking i could have potentially been on that flight. >> he had already left for ont

army blackhawk helicopter, callsign p.a.t. 2-5, was flying over the potomac on a routine training mission. the control tower told the helicopter to pass behind the jet. >> zubeidi sergey brin flight p.a.t. 2-5 happened shortly. pittsburgh has an aircraft in sight separation. >> but despite the blackhawk pilot acknowledging the plane ahead just before 8:50 p.m., the two collided in mid-air, resulting in a fireball. >> crash crash crash. this is layer three. >> so it was. >> somewhere around 8:50 p.m. >> i was. >> uh, in my living room when. >> i heard two. bang bang. >> around 8:50. >> p.m. >> it was loud. it was unusual. it was something you only hear on video games on movies. something i have never experienced. >> hundreds of first responders now working nearly 24 hours to try to recover the victims in the icy potomac river. now, as of now, more than 40 bodies have been recovered from the potomac river behind me. that's according to cnn's gabe cohen. we also learned, as i noted, at the top, recovery efforts have stopped for today. that's due to daylight being gone due to challenging wate

army blackhawk helicopter in mid-air near reagan washington national airport.ozen bodies have reportedly been recovered, according to an nbc affiliate. multiple sources speaking at a press conference, the mayor of washington, d.c, has confirmed 64 people were on board the plane with three people. three people were on the military helicopter. posting on his truth social network, president donald trump said it had been a terrible night and that the crash looks like it should have been prevented. shares in american airlines are lower in premarket trade. nbc's alice barr joins us now. alice, what a tragic and unusual collision. tell us the detail that you've got. >> breaking first. >> and foremost. >> and it's also puzzling to figure. >> out how. >> this happened. this american airlines plane that. >> was on. >> its way to. >> land, it was probably seconds. >> away from landing. >> and it was on. target with the tarmac. >> we should note. >> this is. >> considered the. >> busiest runway, in. >> fact, in. >> the country. this runway. that at. >> reagan national airp

and then another soldier who had been on board that army blackhawk helicopter. some of the next steps that will happen is that they will continue these recovery efforts. they said that they're confident they will be able to find all of these individuals, but that it could potentially take some time, could potentially require bringing in additional equipment to help with that search. they will also begin notifying the families, trying to reunite them with the remains of their loved ones. as they're facing this now very tragic situation. now, we do have some pictures of some of the individuals who were aboard that flight, a u.s. figure skating had said that there were athletes, coaches, family members who had been who had traveled to kansas for some type of skating event, that some of them were on board this flight. russian state media had said that there were two world class figure skaters from russia who had been on this flight. and then at this press conference, i was also able to ask both transportation secretary duffy as well as the american airlines ceo, whe

soil, an american airlines jet and an army blackhawk helicopter colliding in midair. a warning now this video is chilling to watch. it happened around 6:45 p.m. our time last night. the american airlines flight was about to land at reagan national airport. flight 5342 from wichita to d.c, 60 passengers and four crew members were on board. the army helicopter carrying three soldiers. the two aircraft collided and plunged into the potomac river. rescue crews are still in that frigid water looking for victims. at least 40 bodies have been recovered thus far. the ntsb has 50 people on the ground beginning. what's going to be a long investigation? was it human error? was it a mechanical issue or the environment? two black boxes from the passenger jet have been recovered. the black boxes record information from the aircraft and its journey as each power. as each hour passes, more families are being contacted letting them know about their loved ones. 67 people presumed dead. you're looking at just a few pictures now. photos. mothers, fathers, pilots, sons and daughters. 14 o

army blackhawk helicopter is nearby. there were 64 people on board the plane and three soldiers in the army helicopter. u.s. president donald trump posted online that the crash, quote, looks like it should have been prevented. now, trump wrote that the plane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport on a clear night, he asked why the helicopter didn't turn and why the control tower didn't tell the helicopter what to do. it's not immediately clear whether the president's post was based on information on which he'd been previously briefed, but cnn is reaching out to the white house on that front. i want to bring in scott hamilton, an aviation analyst and the author of the book air wars. he joins us from chicago. um, scott, thanks for being here. what are your initial impressions? based on what we've seen from now, the surveillance video and cell phone video of how this collision actually unfolded and what we have learned since. >> the audio from the air traffic control center makes. >> it clear that. they