All 67 believed dead after collision between helicopter and American Airlines plane

Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.

We begin with the deadly plane crash in the U.S.

The collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane near Washington, D.C., has killed all 67 people on board both aircraft.

Shin Ha-young brings the latest and more.

Rescue efforts went on through the night, but no survivors were found from the deadly collision of an American Airlines aircraft and the Army helicopter.

Early on Thursday morning, U.S. authorities announced that 28 bodies had been recovered and believe all 67 people on board died.

"Despite all these efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident."

CBS News reported that at least 40 bodies had been recovered by 5:30 PM Thursday, Eastern Time.

A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training flight collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 on Wednesday night, local time, while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., sending the two aircraft plummeting into the Potomac River the deadliest U.S. air crash since 2001.

The jet had departed from Wichita, Kansas with 60 passengers and four crew members, while the helicopter had three military personnel on board.

According to AP, less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight.

According to CBS News, figure skating athletes and their coaches were on board the plane.

Among them, teenage figure skater Jinna Han and her mother are believed to be of Korean descent.

Spencer Lane, another teenage athlete who was adopted from Korea, was also on the plane with his American mother.

They were returning home from the National Development Camp, which was held in connection with the recent U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.

"For Spencer Lane, he's one of my best friends. I mean, every single day I would walk into that locker room here and greet him and he would tell me about his day and everything. And Jinna, she would sit and put her skates on in the hallway. But when I would walk down the hallway, I would greet her every morning. And she was so kind to me."

U.S. President Donald Trump shared his condolences and paid tribute to the victims and families ahead of a press conference.

But he then criticized the previous administration, indicating that its diversity, equity and inclusion program for air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration were partially to blame for the crash.

"And then when I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. ( ) I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters there appeared to have been an elevation issue with the helicopter, and said Army investigators were on the ground looking into the matter.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul expressed deep sorrow over the plane crash.

The South Korean government is working to obtain a passenger list, though it is still unclear if any Korean nationals were on board.

Shin Ha-young, Arirang News.