Trump National Security Adviser Says Reagan Airport Plane Crash Investigation ‘Transitioned From Response To Recovery’

U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz said Thursday that the investigation into the plane collision near Washington Reagan National Airport “transitioned from response to recovery.”

An American Airlines plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter in a clear evening over the Potomac River, leading investigators to recover over 30 bodies as of Thursday morning. Waltz told “Fox & Friends” that local, state and federal officials made its transition around 4 a.m. EST without having recovered any survivors.

“One of the questions that I have, is were the pilots under night vision, were they not,” Waltz said. Those are things that the investigators will have to determine and at this point, we are on monitoring, we are making sure that everyone has the resources. I sent one of my senior staff from the National Security Council to the [Washington] D.C. Operations Center to make sure that those state, local and federal resources are all integrated and are coordinating and doing the best we can to recover this site. [At] about 4 a.m. this morning unfortunately, we transitioned to response to recovery.”

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The national security adviser said there is no “definitive timeline” on how long it will take to uncover the information that caused the collision. He ensured that the administration will continue “coordinating” with all necessary officials, including President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, as they uncover information about the tragedy

The plane consisted of 60 passengers and 4 crew onboard while three soldiers were aboard the helicopter. Authorities recovered at least 28 bodies by 8 a.m., and confirmed to reporters Thursday that there are no expected survivors.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday, said both of the aircraft were on their respective flight paths during the incident and noted it is standard for D.C. to have a crowded airspace.

“This happens every day,” Duffy said. “Something went wrong here.”

Trump questioned why the control tower did not communicate with the aircrafts prior to the crash given that the weather was ideal for flying.

“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. 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 saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”

Waltz said an incident like the collision has brought more urgency for the U.S. Senate to confirm Trump’s nominees. The Senate confirmed Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Friday and are currently holding confirmation hearings for Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and FBI director nominee Kash Patel.