Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the American people following the deadly collision involving an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter outside Reagan National Airport. Hegseth says the crash occurred while the Black Hawk was on an annual proficiency training flight.

“We do know on our side who was involved. It was a fairly experienced crew, and that was doing a required annual night evaluation,” Hegseth said in a video statement obtained exclusively by Fox News. “We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the quarter at the right altitude at the time of the incident.”

“It’s a tragedy, a horrible loss of life for those 64 souls on that civilian airliner. And of course, the three soldiers in that Black Hawk. They’re in our prayers, their families and their communities as people are notified,” Hegseth added.

Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning on Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va.  (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

On Wednesday, around 9:00 PM local time, the FAA issued a ground stop at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after a military helicopter with three soldiers collided with a civilian airplane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members.

In a press conference on Thursday morning, DC Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly announced nearly 30 bodies had been recovered from the scene of the collision so far. At this time, authorities do not believe there are any survivors, Donnelly added.

“We have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” he added. “Despite all these efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”

Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River after a plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river near Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2025.  (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

In a blunt Truth Social post, President Donald Trump called the crash “a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.”

Shortly after the collision, Vice President JD Vance urged people to “say a prayer for everyone involved.”