Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon and the US Army have launched an investigation into the catastrophic midair collision between a commercial jet and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.

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.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon has begun a probe into the cause of a deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter, looking to understand who was to blame and how the tragedy occurred.

Military spokesman Ron McLendon II said the Army is joining an investigation into the crash headed by the National Transportation Security Board.

An American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter outside Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Wednesday night. A D.C. fire official said Thursday that “we don't think there are any survivors from this accident" and "we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

The father of the man piloting an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter mid-air in Washington, D.C. has spoken out. Sam Lilley, 28, was one of two people piloting the flight from Wichita, Kansas, his father Timothy Lilley told Fox 5 Atlanta. All 67 people on board both aircraft are feared to be dead, officials say.

The Black Hawk that struck an American Airlines flight landing at Reagan airport had three soldiers on board and no VIPs or senior officials were involved.

Sixty-seven people are believed to have died after a passenger plane hit a military helicopter in mid-air near Washington DC's Ronald Reagan airport on Wednesday evening.

A regional jet carrying 64 people collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter. Reagan National Airport grounded all flights.

Officials say there are no survivors among the 67 passengers on the aircrafts that collided above Washington, D.C.

An American Airlines regional jet went down in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after colliding with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, with no survivors expected amid the extremely cold and windy conditions.

A timeline of the tragic collision between a commercial plane and a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, with insights into the ongoing investigation.