Black Hawk Chopper Unit was on annual skills training flight

The crew chief and one of the pilots of the death -convicted Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger jet over Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday was identified.

Kona to Chief Warrant Office 2 Andrew Eaves, from Mississippi, confirmed his death on social media.

“I’m sure everyone has heard the news of the tragedy that has happened in DC,” she wrote on Facebook. “My husband was one of the pilots in Blackhawk. We ask you to pray for our family and friends and for all the other families suffering today. We pray for peace while we mourn.”

Mississippi government manager Tate Reeves said the state mourned over the loss of Eaves.

“Mississippi mourns the loss of Brooksville native Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, who was killed in yesterday’s accident in Reagan National Airport,” Reeves wrote at X. “Elee and I pray for the victims’ families and first responders who are help.”

American Airlines CEO expresses ‘Deep Sorrow’ after Midair -Collision

The crew chief of the helicopter was identified as Ryan O’Hara.

“Ryan is with joy with pleasure as a guy who would arrange things around the ROTC gymnastics hall as well as an important member of the RIFLE team. Ryan leaves a wife and 1-year-old son,” ParkView High School Jrotc wrote in Georgia on Facebook.

O’Hara was one of three soldiers at Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk at the time of the disaster.

The responsible instructor pilot flying the helicopter had 1,000 flight times – which is considered “very experienced”, Fox News has learned. Most flights are on average two hours in length.

American Airlines CEO expresses ‘Deep Sorrow’ after Midair -Collision

Co-pilot had 500 flight times, which is considered a “normal” amount of experience. Fox News is told that the co-pilot was a woman. Both the responsible instructor pilot and co-pilot were evaluated during the flight and were familiar with the area and the route, Fox News is told.

Military and other government helicopters fly this route almost daily, according to a senior army pilot and warrant officer.

According to a senior American defense employee, a set of remnants of the soldiers on Black Hawk was recovered on Thursday afternoon.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth approached the American people after the deadly collision and said the crash happened while Black Hawk was on an annual skills training.

“We know on our site that was involved. It was a rather experienced crew, and that was to do a required annual night evaluation,” Hegeth said in a video declaration obtained exclusively by Fox News. “We expect the investigation to quickly be able to determine if the aircraft was at the quarter of the right height at the time of the incident.”

“It’s a tragedy, a terrible loss of life for the 64 souls on the civilian flight. And of course they are three soldiers in the black hawk. They are in our prayers, their families and their community as people are told,” Hegeth added added .

Georgia -Governor Brian Kemp went to social media to share more about the victims of the tragedy.

“We send our deepest compassion to Ryan O’Hara and Sam Lilley when they navigate this difficult time,” he wrote on X. “Both of these young Georgians shared a passion for flight and to serve others, and this terrible tragedy is , that much more difficult to know their lives was cut so unexpectedly short.

Lilley was one of the crew members aboard the American Airlines Regional Jet, his father, Timothy Lilley, told Fox 5 Atlanta.

DC -Flying Accident Timeline: Midair -Collision involves 67 passengers, crew members, soldiers

Wednesday, around 7 p.m. 21.00 local time, a few land stop at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, after a military helicopter with three soldiers collided with a civil aircraft carrying 60 passengers and four crew members.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, DC Fire and EMS chief John A. Donnelly announced that nearly 30 organs had been recovered from the stage with the collision so far. At this point, the authorities do not think 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 time when we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser thanked the first respondents for working in a “very frigid” river throughout the night in what started as a search and rescue mission, which is now a recovery mission.

Transport secretary Sean Duffy, who was sworn in hours before the collision, promised to get answers on behalf of the collision victims’ families and the American people. Duffy noted that the collision took place on a clear night and that both aircraft and helicopter were in “standard” patterns.

“Security is our expectation. Everyone flying in the US sky expects us to fly safely that when you leave an airport, you will come to your destination. It didn’t happen last night,” Duffy said. Duffy believes that the evidence so far indicates that the collision could have “absolutely” been prevented.

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In a stump truth social post, President Donald Trump called the crash “a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.”

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