In a briefing that recalled his most extreme first term remarks, President Trump said without any evidence that diversity initiatives caused the midair collision.

Wednesday’s fatal collision and two other incidents dramatically illustrate the challenges pilots and air traffic controllers face in the complex, security-sensitive skies above the nation’s capital.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy informed the public on Thursday that it is not in fact "standard" for aircraft to collide in midair over U.S. airspace. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people and a U.

The American Airlines flight was carrying 64 people when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday while approaching the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River and multiple people were killed.

Last year, senators from Virginia and Maryland sounded the alarm over congestion in the skies above Washington.

Sean Duffy, who was confirmed as the secretary for the Department of Transportation on Tuesday, added a post acknowledging the crash on X. In the post, he noted that he was posting from the headquarters for the Federal Aviation Authority in Washington,

According to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the Army helicopter was on an "annual proficiency training flight" and the three soldiers on board had night vision goggles.

Search efforts continue after an American Airlines plane from Wichita, with 64 people on board, collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., and crashed into the Potomac River.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was sworn in earlier this week, said on Thursday both an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter were in standard flight patterns before they collided above Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington,

Duffy, who was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, quickly emerged as a public face of the federal government’s response to the deadly plane crash at