Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calls the deadly aircraft collision involving a Black Hawk and a civilian airliner "a tragedy" in a statement obtained exclusively by Fox News.

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

The helicopter collided with passenger plane carrying 64 people and crew, crashing into the Potomar River late on Wednesday night.

The UH-60 Black Hawk is the helicopter involved in a crash with a passenger jet on Wednesday night near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

The UH-60 Black Hawk has been deployed to dozens of combat zones around the world. Sikorsky has built more than 5,000 of them in Stratford since the 1970s.

A U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter has completed initial ground runs with two of the new T901 Improved Turbine Engines. Developed under the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the T901 was planned to power the now-canceled Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) but will instead make its way into the UH-60 and the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

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.

He indicated 27 bodies had been recovered from the airplane, and one from the helicopter.

An American Airlines flight crashed into a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter over the Potomac River as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

An American Airlines regional passenger plane with a seating capacity between 66 and 78 collided with a helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan.