American Airlines Jet Collides With Military Helicopter In D.C.
Plus: RFK Jr's contentious confirmation hearing & U.S. students' record-low reading scores
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An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with a U.S. Army helicopter carrying three soldiers mid-air Wednesday night, as it made its landing approach towards Ronald Reagan National Airport outside DC.
It prompted a massive search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River including more than 300 first responders. Rescuers reportedly found the Bombardier CRJ-702 jet split in half and the chopper upside down in the dark, near-freezing water. There were no confirmed reports of any survivors or bodies found as of 2amET.
Wreckage in Potomac River. via Getty Images
The collision took place just before 9pmET, at an elevation of about 400 feet, as the flight was coming in for a landing. The American Airlines jet, operated by PSA Airlines, had taken off from Wichita, Kansas earlier in the evening on Wednesday.
The U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk chopper, which was based in nearby Fort Belvoir, Virginia was on a training mission.
Air Traffic Control audio has been released online, including the final communications between the tower and the helicopter “PAT25.” Audio Below.
The Location: The airport is located a couple miles south of the White House and the Capitol, in a very busy airspace that sees near constant landings and chopper flights. All takeoffs and landings from the airport have been halted until 11am Thursday as helicopters from across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.
State of Flight Safety: This is the first fatal crash involving a US airline in nearly 16 years—-since the 2009 crash of a Colgan Air-operated regional jet that killed 50 people outside Buffalo, NY. More than 150 million commercial flights have taken off and landed safely in the US over that time.
Recent Concerns: An American Airlines plane was involved in an near mid-air collision last year at Reagan airport as jets came within 1,300 feet of each other. A number of air traffic controllers have expressed fears that a deadly crash was inevitable as U.S. aviation safety is under mounting stress.
📌 RFK JR. FACES TOUGH CONFIRMATION HEARING FOR HEALTH SECRETARY
Nominated by President Trump to run the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced his first of two days of confirmation hearings in the Senate on Wednesday. Democrats hit him with tough questions about his past comments on vaccines, his changing tune on abortion rights, and potential financial conflicts of interest.
A look at HHS: With 80,000 employees and a $1.8 trillion budget, HHS is one of the largest agencies in the federal government, overseeing global and domestic health initiatives.
Things that fall under HHS purview: Medicare and Medicaid, research divisions like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and regulatory agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
RFK ON VACCINES & CONSPIRACIES
Despite a number of past statements critical of various vaccines, Kennedy claimed that he is not “anti-vaccine,” but merely focused on safe vaccines, arguing that he has been mischaracterized.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, challenged Kennedy on past remarks, including his statement on a podcast that “there is no vaccine that is…safe and effective.”
RFK Jr. insisted that his remarks had been taken out of context, explaining that vaccines can have side effects.
The Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded, sells onesies for babies that have slogans like “UNVAXXED / UNAFRAID” and “NO VAX, NO PROBLEM,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pointed out.
To that, Kennedy restated his support for vaccines and said that he has left the board.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) asked Kennedy to clarify his past claims that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets Black and White people, while sparing Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews.
Kennedy clarified that he was quoting an N.I.H. study. Kennedy had previously pointed to a 2020 study published early in the pandemic that noted one receptor for the virus did not appear to be present in Ashkenazi Jews; but his conclusions were dismissed by scientists.
On whether he previously characterized Lyme disease as a bioweapon, Kennedy responded, “I did probably say that.”
Lyme disease is a bacterial illness spread by ticks. A decades-old conspiracy theory claims it is a man-made bug stemming from a biological warfare laboratory, the Wall Street Journal notes.
Thousands of health professionals and the American Public Health Association have come out against Kennedy’s nomination, citing many of the concerns Senators expressed Wednesday.
FLIP FLOP ON ABORTION
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) was among the Senators who pressed Kennedy on his past support for abortion access, asking whether he “sold out” his values to align with the Trump administration.
Kennedy sidestepped the question and instead aligned himself with Trump’s position, repeating multiple times: “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy.”
Trump has said that he believes abortion access should be left to the states, but abortion rights advocates worry that his administration will target access to abortion pills that have become more popular since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Kennedy will have authority over decisions related to abortion medication access in the role.
MAHA SUPPORTERS
After ending his presidential run as an Independent candidate, Kennedy backed Trump under the banner “Make America Healthy Again.” Republicans on the panel Wednesday were extremely supportive of Kennedy, asking questions that allowed him to discuss his plans.
The agenda aims to tackle chronic disease and childhood illness.
60% of Americans have a chronic disease, according to the CDC.
Kennedy has blamed chemicals in processed foods for obesity and other chronic health conditions, but has called on health agencies to do more research.
Some experts agree with Kennedy that pesticides and other chemicals used in farming (including phthalates, brominated flame retardants, and certain insecticides, along with toxins such as lead and mercury) are linked to impaired cognitive function, lower IQs, and neurodevelopmental disorders in children exposed early in life.
Bottom line: The Senate Finance Committee will likely vote to approve his nomination in the coming days, opening the door to a full Senate vote that could be very close next week.
Today’s confirmation hearings: RFK Jr. is back on Capitol Hill today to testify before another committee. Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard, nominee for Director of National Intelligence, and Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead the FBI, will make their confirmation hearing debuts.
📌 RECORD LOW READING SCORES: WILL U.S. STUDENTS RECOVER FROM COVID LEARNING LOSS?
The National Assessment of Educational Progress – or the Nation’s Report Card – for the last academic year came out Wednesday, revealing that U.S. students have not rebounded from pandemic-era learning loss.
Reading and math scores remain below pre-pandemic 2019 levels for the majority of American fourth- and eighth-graders (the age groups tested).
🚨 Achievement gaps between high- and low-performing students also widened.
Score began declining in 2017, but were accelerated by the pandemic. Via: NPR
ZOOM INTO THE NUMBERS
In reading, the average fourth-grade score fell to 215 out of 500 in 2024, down from 220 in 2019.
Only 31% of fourth-graders scored at or above proficiency levels — down from 35% in 2019. Louisiana was the only state to see its 2024 fourth-grade reading scores surpass pre-pandemic levels.
The pattern was similar for eighth-graders. However, the percentage of eighth-graders scoring in the lowest category for proficiency reached the highest point in the assessment’s history.
Math scores fared slightly better. Fourth graders improved by two points from 2022, but remain three points below 2019 levels. Average eighth-grade math scores stayed the same as 2022, eight points lower than 2019.
WHAT’S GOING ON
The overall decline in performance was mostly driven by students at the lower end of the performance scale. Higher-achieving students have begun to recover lost ground from COVID-19 disruptions, signaling uneven academic recovery. While these drops started before the pandemic, school closures exacerbated the problem.
Chronic absenteeism has become an issue since the pandemic, and those who missed school often were more likely to score poorly in this past year’s assessment.
Another angle: There's debate over how reading is taught. Some teachers argue that a phonics-based approach would lead to better results, and some districts are switching to that method.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Trump administration rescinds order attempting to freeze federal aid spending (NBC)
📌 Former Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years for corruption and bribery conviction (MO NEWS)
📌 Trump signs Laken Riley Act into law as first legislative victory in new administration (FOX)
📌 DeSantis plans to veto Florida immigration bill passed by GOP Legislature (POLITICO)
📌 New York becomes the first state to close schools for Lunar New Year (NPR)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Hostages Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, Gadi Mozes to be freed by Hamas Thursday, along with 5 Thais (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
📌 Far-right vote on asylum rocks German parliament (BBC)
📌 The Doomsday Clock has never been closer to metaphorical midnight. What does it mean? (NPR)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 OpenAI is probing whether Chinese A.I. company DeepSeek used its models to train new chatbot (WSJ via YAHOO)
📌 Largest study ever done on cannabis and brain function finds impact on working memory (CU)
📌 Truth Social owner Trump Media expands into finance, may invest in bitcoin (CNN)
📌 Fed holds rates steady as inflationary threats loom (AXIOS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Meryl Streep cut a car-sized hole in her garden fence to escape LA fires (GUARDIAN)
📌 Rihanna makes first court appearance at the trial of her partner A$AP Rocky, as accuser testifies (AP)
📌 Harvey Weinstein's retrial on rape charges in New York is set for April 15 (NBC)