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.

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

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.

The Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines commuter plane near Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia Wednesday was on a “training flight” when it crashed into the Potomac River, according to the military service branch.

House and Senate lawmakers from Kansas released a bipartisan statement on the tragic American Airlines crash Wednesday night in Washington, D.C.

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

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.

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 regional jet carrying 64 people collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter as the plane was approaching a runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.

An airplane collided with a helicopter while trying to land at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, officials said.

US authorities said it was not yet clear why a regional jet and a US Army helicopter collided at a Washington airport, killing 67 people in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.Investigators recovered the so-called black boxes from the plane,