ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Jan. 30, 2025

tonight a special edition of World News. Tonight the deadliest air disaster in. the US in more than two decades the. midair Collision right here over the. pomac river an American Airlines. passenger jet at a US Army Blackhawk. helicopter tonight authorities now. saying no one survived tonight's. surveillance video showing the moment of. impact the sudden Fireball in the sky. over Washington DC crash crash crash. this is alarn three the alarming call. from Air Traffic Control an American Air.

Lines flight out of witch Kansas on. approach to Reagan National Airport the. US Army Blackhawk helicopter on a night. training Mission colliding with the jet. both plunging Into The Frigid Waters of. the bomac river 64 passengers and crew. on the plane three soldiers on the. Blackhawk helicopter tonight the witness. who told me what he saw driving home. from work what he witnessed right. through his window and tonight we're. learning about the 67 lives lost the. American Airlines Pilots the young. figures skaters their coaches and family.

members returning from the national. championships and camp in Witchita the. young Stars many from the Boston area. the husband and wife coaching team. former Olympic skater Nancy carrian. tonight in tears talking about those. young skaters among them a 16-year-old. figure skater and what he posted just. before that flight took off from. Witchita president Trump and the White. House briefing room today calling for a. moment of silence moments later the. president implying Dei policies.

diversity equity and inclusion might. have contributed to the crash also. tonight the fast moving investigation. now you will hear the air traffic. controller asking the Blackhawk. helicopter do you see the Regional Jet. tonight defense secretary Pete heg. saying a mistake was made and what early. data reveals about altitude the. Blackhawk flying at 350 ft Authorities. on where it should have been and tonight. new questions about whether that one air. traffic controller was doing the work of.

two controllers and tonight here my. interview with the DC fire chief what. his divers found when they reached the. wreckage 10 minutes after the crash the. fuselage in multiple parts and tonight. images of the Blackhawk helicopter. submerged to the pomac and what we're. now learning about those service members. were they wearing night vision goggles. during routine training our team here on. the ground a special edition of world. news tonight begins. now from ABC News this is ABC World News.

Tonight with David mure reporting. tonight from Washington. [Music]. DC good evening tonight from Washington. DC we are here along the banks of the. pomac the scene of America's deadliest. plane crash in nearly 24 years a US Army. Blackhawk helicopter on a night training. Mission colliding with an American. Airlines passenger jet flight 5342 with. 60 passengers and four crew members the. jet had taken off from witch Kansas and.

was coming in for landing nearly. reaching Runway 33 here tonight. Transportation secretary Shawn Duffy. saying quote everything was standard in. the leadup to the crash so tonight there. are many questions how could this happen. and you will hear the air traffic. controller asking the Blackhawk do you. see the jet the Army crew answering yes. the image is right here tonight an. airport surveillance camera capturing. the moment the two aircraft Collide the. jet and the Blackhawk falling into the. icy pomac below the jet breaking into.

multiple pieces more than 300 First. Responders rushing to the scene. firefighters the US Coast Guard the Army. and the NTSB tonight by interview with. the DC fire chief who told me his team. reached the wreckage in the water 10. minutes after the crash divers working. through the night searching the waters. for any possible survivors among those. on board 14 figure skaters their coaches. and family members on the Blackhawk. three US service members experienced. Pilots conducting routine training.

by daylight that rescue effort had. turned to recovery tonight we've learned. nearly 40 bodies pulled from the water. but officials say the wreckage will need. to be lifted to recover the others we. know shortly before the crash the. American flight was asked to change. runways the pilots agreed they changed. course they were coming in and we know. that air traffic control reached the. Blackhawk and you'll hear the audio they. confirmed seeing that jet and tonight. here the faces of some of the victims. the young skaters and president Trump. today asking for a moment of silence but.

then appearing to imply blame for the. crash but we start here with the. investigation the deadly Collision in. the air and so many lives. lost tonight the deadliest air disaster. in the US in nearly 24 years last night. 8:48 p.m. the deadly catastrophic. Collision over the pomac river an. American Airlines Regional Jet at a US. Army Blackhawk helicopter colliding the. emergency calls were immediate crash.

crash crash this is alert three crash. crash crash this is alert three the. Regional Jet American Airlines flight. 5342 from witcha Kansas was coming in. for landing just 2400 ft left to go you. see that these images of the deadly. Collision now being closely examined by. federal authorities the moment captured. on an Earth cam live stream at the. Kennedy Center the horror lighting up. the night sky in Washington a fireball. in the air sending both aircraft.

plummeting into the icy wastey waters of. the bomac the passenger jet breaking. into multiple. Parts some 300 First Responders on the. scene in minutes conducting a massive. search and rescue operation emergency. vehicles lining up along the bomic river. using their lights to illuminate the. river helicopters flying overhead using. their search lights to scan the dark. frigid Waters dive teams searching in. the water barely above freezing late. today DC fire chief John Donley your.

team's encountered very challenging. conditions yes the river is dark it's. cold it's windy um there's ice on there. and they're looking for a plane that's. underwater so it it's a very challenging. response initially and within 10 minutes. of the accident happening the first. fireboat uh found the plane and began to. conduct what they would hop to be rescue. operations Chief you uh broke the very.

difficult news uh today that there were. no survivors here yeah I can't imagine a. worst scenario for rescue operations and. uh they've been working really hard in. what did they find in terms of the. fuselage of the plane um so you see the. pictures now it's broken up but it's all. in the same area and the black clock. helicopter uh it's in one piece as best. I understand overnight the Grim. agonizing weight for desperate families. many who do not live here who were.

watching along with the rest of the. country waiting for word tonight it is. now believed 67 lives lost 60 passengers. and four crew members on that American. Airlines Regional Jet three service. members on board the US Army Blackhawk. helicopter on a routine training flight. according to the FAA the service members. were all experienced tonight satellite. images of the recovery operation on the. pomac boats Gathering near wreckage. debris emergency response vessels nearby.

but they were not needed and while the. investigation is still very early flight. 5342 from Wichita was approaching. preparing to land at Reagan National. Airport from the south minutes before. the jet was to land air traffic. controllers asking the American Airlines. flight to change runways to land on a. shorter Runway Runway 33 the pilots. agreed an air traffic control clearing. them to land the pilots adjusting their. approach and prepared to come in for. landing.

reportedly less than 30 seconds before. the crash you hear Air Traffic Control. also ask the crew piloting the Blackhawk. helicopter if they saw the Regional Jet. the helicopter pilot says. yes the controller makes another radio. call to that helicopter telling them to. pass behind the crj the Regional Jet. there was no reply seconds later the.

collision and with those 60 passengers. and four crew members on board that. plane the plane's radio transponder. stopped transmitting just 2400 ft before. they would have landed they were just a. few hundred feet above the water at that. point right over the middle of the river. tonight the NTSB says the investigation. has just begun today was their first. full day on the scene and there are many. questions among them authorities will. have to answer whether the helicopter. might have mistaken another air aircraft. in the air as the one air traffic.

controllers were talking about when they. first radioed asking do you see that jet. do you have the Regional Jet in sight in. some of the surveillance you can. actually see another plane in the air. and that's just one question in this. investigation there are also questions. about altitude why the passenger jet and. the Blackhawk were operating at the same. altitude and how they were able to get. so close to one another the passenger. Jets flight data recorder expected to. shed light whether the American Airline. Pilots knew that that Black Hawk was so.

close late today we spoke with an. eyewitness who saw that passenger jet in. the air he was driving home from work. Ari Schulman Ari I know you were driving. home from work and you saw that Regional. Jet through the window I did yes uh I. saw it out my left window I was looking. ahead when I was driving but I I looked. off to my left knowing that the runway. was there and wondering if there might. be a plane landing and I I looked and. there was I saw the Jets uh and when I. first looked at it it was completely.

normal it was level flight uh everything. was fine and then moments later you. looked out the window and you saw. something very different yes that's. right I saw little snatches of it for. about two or three seconds at a time but. the second time that I looked uh which. was just a few seconds later it was. turned over on its right side it had. banked all the way to the right I could. see the belly of it underneath it was. lit up a very bright yellow and there. was a a stream of Sparks coming down uh. the plane it looked to me like from the.

head to the tail I didn't see the. helicopter the first time I looked or. the second time I looked or at any point. after if it was there it was very very. hard to see um but that's surely what I. saw was the immediate moment after that. collision and tonight we're beginning to. learn about some of the lives lost among. them the American Airlines Pilots first. officer Samuel Lily 29 his family saying. he was newly engaged and just months. away from being promoted to Captain also. on that flight us figure skating. confirming four te athletes skaters.

their coaches and family members also on. board returning home from the national. development Camp held in conjunction. with the US figure skating championships. in witcha US figure skating saying in a. statement we are devastated by this. unspeakable tragedy and hold the. victim's families closely in our hearts. tonight Russian State media also. reporting two Russian World Champion. skaters were on the plane they were. married many of the skaters were from. the Skating Club of Boston Olympic. skater carrian among the alumni of that.

program and today she was in tears as. she spoke of those young skaters the. main lesson I think learned in skating. is you get back up keep on trying and. even when it's hard you get back up even. when you're crying hurt pain you get. back up and move forward it's not easy. but that's what we all have to do now. together among those lost us figure. skating team member Spencer l just 16.

years old he shared this photo from on. board the flight just before taking off. from wiah and he posted this video of. himself skating just yesterday with the. caption I am so happy to have qualified. for National development Camp it has. been my goal almost ever since I became. aware that it was a thing I learned so. much and met so many amazing people one. of his coaches today this kid was so. talented he only started skating a few. years ago he came to me and. smiling ear ear.

saying I get it now I. understand he started to discover this. connection with the audience and that. joy that he was giving to other people. through his gift tonight the crash. reminding sumon the skating community of. a 1961 crash that took the lives of 18. members of the national skating team 16. family members coaches judges and. skating officials flying from New York. City to the world championships in. Prague the blamed on mechanical failure.

deadly crashes involving commercial. aircraft here in the US are extremely. rare the last one near Buffalo New York. in 2009 and here in Washington tonight. many recalling the crash on the bomac. more than 40 years ago in 1982 an air. Florida flight crashing due to bad. weather killing 78 on board a loss of. life and aviation accident is very. unusual in the United States and our. heartfelt sorrow goes out to everyone. that's affect Ed and tonight the DC fire.

chief telling me they now wait for. Machinery to help move pieces of that. jet before they can continue to recover. the victims obviously there are still. some victims in that wreckage absolutely. we know this hasn't been easy for your. teams as well so we thank you thank you. for all you're doing welome thank you. thanks thanks J the DC fire chief. telling me those rescue crews were here. in the water and at the wreckage 10. minutes after the crash and in fact. right over my shoulder here on the pomac. you can see the control tower there.

tonight the airplanes in the sky. activity has resumed and of course the. fast moving investigation at this hour. defense secretary Pete hegseth saying a. mistake was made and what early data. reveals tonight about altitude the. Blackhawk flying at 350 ft Authorities. on where it should have been and tonight. also questions about whether that one. air traffic controller was actually. doing the work of two controllers Gio. Bonz covers. Aviation tonight as investigators search. the the wreckage of that midair disaster.

in the icy pomac River an early focus is. the flight path of that Army Blackhawk. helicopter that Chopper appeared to be. flying at about 350 ft according to. early flight data when it should have. been flying under 200 ft defense. secretary Pete heg Seth tonight the. military does dangerous things it does. routine things on the regular basis. tragically last night uh a mistake was. made there was an some some sort of an. elevation issue uh that we have. immediately begun investigating DC space. among the busiest in the country and.

tonight A source with direct knowledge. confirming reports that the air traffic. controller on duty was performing the. job normally done by two controllers. this is usually done when there's less. air traffic but last night that change. from two controllers to one was made 40. minutes earlier than usual because of. lighter traffic late today the NTSB. responding we have not reviewed any. specific reports about the controllers. at this time at least from the. leadership team our investigators are. continuing to pull all that information.

their personnel records their files. where they were at whether they were. fatigued the union for ATC workers. saying tonight it stands with a highly. trained highly skilled Workforce. meanwhile commercial airplanes are. equipped with collision avoidance. systems designed to prevent these types. of crashes but that system only works at. about 1,000 ft or higher remember the. plane involved in last night's crash was. flying about 350 ft from the ground. meanwhile it was a clear night so. experts say the pilot of the Blackhawk.

helicopter would have been flying. visually and David we've just learned. that the black boxes from the American. Airlines flight have just been recovered. and they are on the way to the NTSB lab. David a very important development. tonight Gio Bonitas are thanks to you. and this evening what we're also. learning about the Blackhawk helicopter. the service members on board and their. mission Martha RIT is here with me. tonight and Martha we learned today they. had night vision goggles on you learned. that this was routine training and that. they were experienced Pilots they were. both very experienced Pilots they have.

done that run several times thems in the. day in the night and they did apparently. have those night vision goggles on that. would be unusual if they did not but. that can make it more difficult. helicopter Pilots I've talked to in the. last 24 hours say it is much more. difficult with those night vision. goggles on because you may think you see. that plane in front of you but they may. have been looking at the lights of the. city or another plane David other. aircraft indeed all right Martha rit's.

with us here tonight Martha thank you. meantime tonight president Trump coming. before the cameras in the White House. briefing room today calling for a moment. of silence and then moments later the. president implying that Dei policies. diversity equity and inclusion might. have contributed to the crash Mary Bruce. was in The Briefing. room tonight with the recovery effort. underway in the investigation only just. beginning president Trump without any. evidence blaming the diversity policies. of his predat processors for the deadly.

crash a group within the FAA another. story determined that the workforce was. too white that they had concerted. efforts. to get the administration to change that. and to change it immediately the. president accusing the previous. administrations of hiring air traffic. controllers based on diversity goals not. qualifications are you saying this crash. was somehow caused and the result of. diversity hiring and what evidence have. you seen to support these claims it just.

could have been we have a high standard. we've had a higher much higher standard. than anybody else and there are things. where you have to go by brain power but. Trump also acknowledged he wasn't sure. if the air traffic controllers made any. mistakes former President Biden's. Transportation secretary Pete Budaj. responding despicable saying as families. grieve Trump should be leading not lying. we put Safety First drove down close. calls grew air traffic control and had. zero commercial airline crash fatalities.

out of millions of flights on our watch. and David tonight president Trump is. doubling down on these claims that. diversity equity and inclusion programs. are to blame for this tragedy saying. it's quote because I have common sense. but again he's presented no evidence and. this investigation is only just. beginning. David Mary Bruce in the briefing room. today Mary thank you when we come back. here the other major news of the night. news coming in on the hostages in fact. eight have been released in Gaza and.

right here in the US millions are on. alert right now for severe storms from. Texas right up into the Northeast we'll. take you through. it tonight Hamas freeing eight more. hostages as part of the ceasefire. agreement with Israel three Israelis and. five Thai citizens reuniting with their. families Israel releasing 110. Palestinian prisoners 30 miners among. those set free when we come back here. tonight tracking these severe storms. moving in millions from Texas all the. way up to the Northeast are on alert in. a.

moment tonight we're tracking a powerful. cross country storm flash flooding and. severe storm stretching from Texas to. Kentucky the system moves into the. Northeast tomorrow in fact heavy rain. and winds from DC to New York City all. the way up to Boston when we come back. here tonight a powerful image tonight. for those young skaters. lost before we go so many lives lost. American Airlines employees seen hugging. here at Reagan National Airport today in. witcha a prayer vigil for loved ones and. a tribute of six white roses at the.

skating Club of Boston for those young. skaters I'm David M reporting from. Washington good night David mure ABC's. World News Tonight the most watched. newscast in America and honored with the. Emmy Award winner for outstanding live. news program.