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Emergency response units work at the site of the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday on approach to Reagan National Airport. Al Drago/Getty Images hide caption
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Al Drago/Getty Images
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newly-installed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the military is investigating Wednesday night's crash between an Army helicopter and a civilian airliner near Washington, D.C.
Officials say 28 bodies have been recovered so far. There were 64 people on the American Airlines regional jet and three U.S. service members on the Black Hawk helicopter.
In a video statement released Thursday on social media, Hegseth said, "The Army unit involved, was Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir" and that it had been carrying out "an annual proficiency training flight."
Despite President Trump saying the pilots of the Army helicopter bore responsibility for the crash, Hegseth said the crew was "fairly experienced" and carrying out a "required annual night evaluation, they did have night vision goggles."
There remain, however, many unanswered questions about the flight pattern of the Black Hawk helicopter and the exact nature of the training exercise.
"Initial indications suggest this may have been a checkride, or periodic evaluation by an experienced instructor pilot of a less experienced pilot," said Brad Bowman, a military analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former Black Hawk pilot.
"A checkride, as opposed to a normal training flight, creates some unique dynamics in the cockpit. In a checkride, the less experienced pilot can be nervous and eager to not make mistakes, while the instructor pilot is watching to see how the other pilot responds to different developments," Bowman explained. "Sometimes an instructor pilot will test the less experienced aviator to see how they respond, but such a technique would have been unusual and inadvisable in that location given the reduced margin for error."
Defense officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that a male pilot and female co-pilot were on board the Black Hawk, along with a flight crew member. The instructor pilot had 1,000 hours of flight time, which is considered quite high. The co-pilot had 500 hours, which is considered average. The Pentagon has not yet released the names of those on board, saying it was still in the process of notifying next of kin.
Officials also tell NPR that the Black Hawk was supposed to be flying at a maximum of 200 feet, though sources say it was flying at least 100 feet higher. All requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the investigation.
"There is a low, prescribed altitude for the helicopter to fly at in that location on the route," Bowman said, "to ensure sufficient and safe distance between the helicopter and aircraft landing or taking off from Reagan. If the helicopter was above the prescribed altitude, that could be a leading cause of the collision. That will be a key focus of the investigation."
In his video statement on Thursday, Hegseth said, "A senior level aviation team, investigative team, was deployed last night."
"We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the corridor and at the right altitude at the time of the incident," Hegseth said.
The National Transportation Safety Board says it has not yet recovered the so-called black boxes from the plane — the cockpit voice and flight data recorders. Federal safety investigators believe the Black Hawk helicopter also had its own recording devices, which they hope will help provide more clues on the cause of the crash.
