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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

One Black Box Recovered from Potomac After Plane-Chopper Collision; Figure Skaters, Parents, Coaches Among the 67 Killed in Crash; Trump Baselessly Blames DEI Initiatives for Plane-Chopper Collision; 67 Believed Killed In D.C. Plane-Chopper Crash; Trump Baselessly Blames DEI Initiatives For Plane-Chopper Collision; Figure Skaters, Parents, Coaches Among The 67 Killed In Crash. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 30, 2025 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: -- people to allow that statement to come into play. So, it's unfortunate in the context of a terrible tragedy relative to the tragedy these families face. I guess it's not as big a deal but it is a gut punch to those of us who are disabled and aviators.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yes, and incredibly you're able to that personally. Miles, I appreciate talking to you and thank you very much.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Erin.

BURNETT: Miles O'Brien there and thanks so much to all of you for being with us. Our live coverage of this horrible tragedy here at Washington's Reagan Airport. It's time now for AC 360 with Anderson.

[20:00:45]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": And good evening. Tonight, we are coming to you from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Virginia. Less than 24 hours after a sickening tragedy, the deadliest plane crash in the US in nearly a quarter century.

A short time ago, we learned that one of the flight recorders aboard the American Airlines plane, known as a black box, has been recovered, 67 men, women and children are dead after the flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter.

Now, it's too dark to see, but the Potomac River is behind me, and we have been watching all day difficult and dangerous recovery operations taking place on and in its frigid waters. Divers and crews have to contend not just with the icy water, but wind and currents, twisted steel, jet fuel and a debris field that's very long.

At this hour, operations are suspended for the night. The bodies of more than 40 people have so far been recovered. DC's Fire and EMS chief told CNN today that he is confident they will recover the remains of everyone. There is no good news, but that at least means families will be able to bring their lost loved ones home. Much of how last night's collision could have occurred, that's still a mystery. This is what we know right now: At about 6:39 PM Eastern. The American Airlines flight took off from Wichita, Kansas. Then, just before 8:48 PM, an air traffic controller appeared to communicate with the helicopter using its call sign, Priority Air Transport, or PAT 25. And then seconds later, the collision occurs and you actually hear the controllers react. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOWER: PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?

TOWER: PAT 2-5 pass behind CRJ.

HELICOPTER PILOT: PAT-25 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation.

(Silence)

TOWER: (INAUDIBLE)

"Oh my."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, that collision was caught on camera and we're going to show that to you now. On the left is the helicopter. It's small, a small dot moving toward the plane which we've spot shadowed, traveling straight at it. Then you see a fireball. At about 8:48 PM, the FAA issued an alert warning about an aircraft incident. The NTSB has called it a, "very quick, rapid impact."

The reason for it is, of course, now under investigation. A source tells our Pete Muntean who is going to join us in just a few seconds that one air traffic controller was working two different tower positions at the time of the collision. Unclear if that played any role. The same source says that setup is not uncommon.

A government source also tells Pete tonight that a tower supervisor made that staffing decision, which they can do when air traffic is light. The source said there was no, in their words, staffing trigger, meaning they were not short staffed. According to an Army official, the instructor pilot on the Black Hawk was conducting a training mission. He had about 1000 flight hours. His copilot was being evaluated, had about 500 hours.

Now, the crash comes after three incidents of close calls involving helicopters near Reagan National Airport reported in the last three years. The NTSB today said it hopes to have a preliminary report within 30 days. But as you can tell, flights now have begun taking off again from the airport. We're also learning more about those killed tonight.

According to US Figure Skating, athletes and coaches and family members returning home from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas were aboard, the Skating Club of Boston said, among those dead are a married pair of skaters who won the 1994 World Championships.

Also, several young skaters from other clubs were on board, including two sisters age 11 and 14 years old, along with their parents. We'll bring you more about who was on board throughout this hour as we learn.

I want to start right now with our aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean. Pete, let's talk about where the investigation now stands.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Stunning, sad and preventable this incident was and really this has been an incredible response for this investigation. Fifty NTSB investigators now on the scene here. Ironically, this is the spot where they launched the go team from hangar six, which is only maybe a half mile from where we are standing. And now, this is the scene of the worst air disaster the NTSB has investigated in decades.

20:05:05

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN (voice over): The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating what caused the deadliest aviation disaster in the United States in more than 23 years.

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: We are all here because this is an all hands on deck event, and we're here to assure the American people that we are going to leave no stone unturned.

MUNTEAN (voice over): American Eagle flight 5342, a Canadair Regional Jet operated by PSA airlines, callsign Blue Streak, directed to land at Reagan National Airport's runway 3-3. One of the most complicated approaches in the country, and running very close to a special corridor used for helicopters flying close to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, we can do 3-3 for Blue Streak 5342.

MUNTEAN (voice over): The flight's captain had nearly six years of experience with the airline and the first officer nearly two years, according to American Airlines CEO.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Runway 3-3, cleared to land.

MUNTEAN (voice over): Four minutes later, the control tower tells a US Army Black Hawk helicopter call sign Priority Air Transport, or PAT 2- 5, on a training mission to look out for the passenger plane and go behind it.

TOWER: PAT 25, Do you have the CRJ in sight?

TOWER: PAT 25, Pass behind the CRJ

HELICOPTER PILOT: PAT 25 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation.

MUNTEAN (voice over): Despite the helicopter pilot saying he saw the jet about 13 seconds later. Disaster, as they slam into each other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crash, crash, crash, this is an Alert 3.

MUNTEAN (voice over): The plane shattered into three pieces, plunging into the dark Potomac River where both aircraft landed upside down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was probably out in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. So, I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and helicopter that hit.

MUNTEAN (voice over): More than 301 first responders descended on the scene for a desperate search in near freezing cold water but not one of the 64 people on the plane and the three people on the helicopter survived.

TODD INMAN, MEMBER, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: A loss of life in an aviation accident is very unusual in the United States, and our heartfelt sorrow goes out to everyone that's affected. It affects us. It affects everyone around us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Pete Muntean is here with me. Also, joining me now are CNN aviation analyst and former transportation department inspector general, Mary Schiavo and Les Abend, a retired American Airlines captain.

This Black Hawk helicopter, Pete, was in a special corridor. I mean, that's normal that there's a lot of Black Hawks and military craft in that corridor.

MUNTEAN: It's very close is the only issue to the final approach here for Runway 3-3, the secondary runway that is used here at Reagan National Airport when things are quite busy and was in use last night.

One big change that has taken place since last night's awful fatal incident is Runway 3-3 is now at least temporarily closed, probably the first of many major changes that we will see stemming from this accident. And airline pilots I've been talking to are wondering why that helicopter corridor, that special corridor known as route four, is so close to planes arriving and departing here.

COOPER: Mary, obviously, very early in the investigation, a black box has been recovered. One, what stands out to you, I mean, it's too early to say anything, really, but what stands out to you about what we know?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, what we know so far, and we learned some from the press release today by the NTSB. And they did give us a few more details that the plunge into the river and the dive was very quick. There were no emergency slides or any kind of emergency evacuation procedures. So, it was a very quick and sudden entry into the water. And they did detail a lot of the information about families and what they can do for family assistance that both the NTSB and of course, the airline has family assistance programs. And the other thing that stood out is the continuing information that's coming out about the communications between the tower and this helicopter and just what Pete said, why, after so many years. And it came out that there have been other complaints about this helicopter route so close to the runways, but it's been going on for so many years with other complaints and other near-misses.

COOPER: You know, Les, you're a pilot. We just got some breaking news that CNN has learned that the day before last night's crash, another jet approaching Reagan National Airport was forced to abort its first landing. Go around after a helicopter flew near its flight path. That's according to air traffic control audio. At this point, Les, what stands out to you? What do you think -- what concerns you the most?

LES ABEND, RETIRED AMERICAN AIRLINES 777 CAPTAIN: Well, this -- we've been doing arrivals into Reagan National for years and years without any instances that that have caused this tragedy.

What stands out to me is that, somehow that airplane was accepted a landing on Runway 3-3, even after it was lined up and set for the arrival for Runway 1, which potentially could have caused that sort of that drift out to the east so they could line up properly with this -- with a more northwest runway as opposed to the original north runway.

[20:10:27]

So, that strikes me right away. The problem is at night when you accept that kind of situation, you also accept other issues, and you put those all into the ingredients, you're dealing with, trying to find a helicopter at night as a pilot, it is very difficult in the daytime. At nighttime, you can't discern with all the congestion you have of different kind of lights that it blends in. It gets camouflaged among everything else. So, their avoidance issue, it was very tough, very challenging.

COOPER: But, Pete, what do we know about the staffing in the control tower?

MUNTEAN: That's going to be a big concern for investigators. And we know from a source that the staffing in the control tower was relatively light when this incident took place, that the controllers were able to combine two positions into one. It's something that they do when things get a little quieter later at night, meaning one controller controlling not only the takeoffs and landings of civilian commercial flights here at national airport, but also speaking to the helicopters that transition this airspace so very often.

We do know that controllers just in general are stretched to the limit. Many are working mandatory overtime, six day weeks, ten-hour shifts. There's an incredible shortage of air traffic controllers nationwide, and the FAA training center in Oklahoma City is incredibly backlogged and has been since before the pandemic.

It's something that the Biden administration really tried to shore up in an incredible way. They hired about 1,800 controllers in 2024, but the shortage is not totally out of the woods just yet, and it's definitely something that investigators will want to look at is the fatigue that may have been a factor for controllers here, because it's been a factor in other near-miss incidents.

COOPER: And Mary, just in terms of the black box from this jet that was found, what initially can be found from that?

SCHIAVO: Well, from the black box, is they will get all of the technical information that they need to supplement and back up and really nail down all of the things that have already been reported.

The communications from the air traffic control tower, the actual flight, the altitude, the engine settings, literally everything on that plane will be recorded in the black boxes. And I think, you know, so many accidents that we have worked and they've been mysteries for so long.

There's a lot of clues here. And I think the black box will really nail down everything that has been said so far and reported, and the positioning, including perhaps even additional information from the helicopter, even though the helicopter, of course, did not have that kind of equipment.

COOPER: Les, I talked to Captain Sully Sullenberger just in the last couple of hours. He suggested that this airspace here at Reagan National needs more safety zones and more altitude separation between low flying planes and helicopters. Do you do you agree with that? What else would you suggest might or needs to be looked at?

ABEND: Well, the problem is you've got a lot of restricted airspace to begin with. I think what might help the situation is to reduce the distance in -- not reduce, but increase the distance, what we call a trail of other airplanes, and it would give more time between arrivals and departures. This is going to make a lot of people happy, because that does cut down on frequencies.

But indeed it gives the controllers some time to sort any sort of transient helicopters, even at that low altitude to go through safely.

COOPER: You know, just at this hour, I just keep thinking about these divers and these crews who have been out here. I mean, they have been working around the clock. The conditions are dangerous for them and there's twisted metal. There's aircraft down under the water. It is extraordinary what they're doing.

MUNTEAN: The fuselage came apart in three parts, we know and we know from the risks of the Key Bridge ship collision and bridge collapse that things can really make a diver's fate very perilous underwater. It's only about eight feet of water here in the Potomac River. And the water temperature has been about 35 degrees. So that really compounded the risk for divers last night.

We know that divers came far and wide to try a rescue operation, which very clearly was going to be a recovery operation because hypothermia would set in only in a matter of minutes. The response has been nothing short of incredible. And there have been 300 first responders here on the scene and even tonight, I'm seeing some of the flashing lights.

COOPER: I can still see boats out there.

MUNTEAN: It's incredible, the pall that has fallen over Reagan National Airport tonight and a bit surreal that flights are taking off and landing. You have to wonder about the passengers who were on those flights taking off as this operation continues.

[20:15:20]

COOPER: Pete Muntean, thank you, Mary Schiavo, as well, Les Abend as well.

Pete is going to stay with us because coming up, were going to discuss how the president of the United States took this moment of tragedy and grief and turned it into a political discussion about diversity hiring, a fact check on that just ahead.

And later, the skating community is mourning tonight. What we know about some of the young athletes, their parents, their coaches aboard that American Airlines flight. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:10]

COOPER: And welcome back.

We're coming to you from Reagan National Airport, the Potomac there where the recovery effort has been going on all day.

Normally, in a tragedy like this, while divers are bravely risking their own safety to retrieve the bodies of plane passengers from dark waters of the Potomac River, and families are sitting in rooms, stunned and mourning, desperate for word of their loved ones, you might expect the president of the United States to not just offer condolences, but also measured words promising a thorough investigation.

Well, President Trump did offer words of condolences and a moment of silence, but that was followed by a press conference in which he blamed efforts to improve diversity in the workforce and past Presidents Obama and Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first.

The FAAs diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing.

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. This was in the Obama administration, but they actually came out with a directive too White. And we want the people that are competent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, keeping them honest. The FAA's language about diversity was present during the first Trump administration as well. It basically was an effort to follow federal law and not discriminate against people with disabilities, particularly, by the way, veterans with injuries or disabilities that they've suffered in combat.

In fact, increasing federal hiring of qualified people who happen to have disabilities, that's been a goal of government agencies since the 1970s.

Here's a version of the FAA web page on diversity. It was captured by the internet archive in December 2020, his last full month as president. And it talks about diversity and inclusion and how it is "integral" to achieving FAA's mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond.

Now, the Department of Transportation has tried to increase its hiring of people with what they call targeted disabilities, meaning people with intellectual psychiatric disabilities, but also deafness, blindness and paralysis. The FAA has always stated, though, that anyone hired would have to meet qualifications of the job, and this again, was the policy under Donald Trump's first administration.

Daniel Dale notes in his fact check that the FAA wrote in 2019 that the, "Candidates in this program will receive the same rigorous consideration in terms of aptitude, medical and security qualifications as those individuals considered for a standard public opening for air traffic controller jobs."

President Trump did later in his news conference today back-pedaled a bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We don't know that necessarily, it's even the controller's fault.

REPORTER: On DEI and the claims that you've made. Are you saying this crash was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring? And what evidence have you seen to support these claims?

TRUMP: It just could have been. The people and the helicopter should have seen where they were going. I can't imagine people with 20/20 vision not seeing, you know, what's happening up there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, he's kind of all over the place. He was blaming diversity. Then he's saying that maybe it wasn't the air traffic controller's fault. Suggesting that the pilots in the helicopter where the problem should have seen. Then he seemed to be unsure of his accusations about diversity hiring. At a signing ceremony later in the day, he said this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, to be clear, are you saying race or gender played a role in this tragedy?

TRUMP: It may have. I don't know, incompetence might have played a role. We'll let you know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Joining us now, anchor and chief white house correspondent Kaitlan Collins. And back with us, Pete Muntean.

Kaitlan, you continue to press the president on this. It is amazing to me that in this moment, he would just pontificate about a whole bunch of wild theories, none of which there's any evidence directly of, and some of which back his political, you know, mission about DEI.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it may be shocking, but it's not surprising. As someone who has covered Trump for eight years now, I mean, just recently, earlier this month, he did the same thing with the New Orleans terror attack. He falsely linked it to migrants, when in fact there was no link. It was a US citizen who carried out that attack.

And so today, when this matter came up, Trump had posted about the attack or about the collision overnight and raising questions about the helicopter pilot and how they were conducting this. And so, moments when he came out to the briefing today, his first time in the briefing room since he took office. He took a moment of silence for the victims and then almost immediately began blaming these diversity initiatives.

We pressed him on whether or not there was any evidence, and also on the fact that this investigation was only hours old at this point.

[20:25:21]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We do not even yet know the names of the 67 people who were killed and you are blaming Democrats and DEI policies and air traffic control, and seemingly the member of the US Military who was flying that Black Hawk helicopter. Don't you think you're getting ahead of the investigation right now?

TRUMP: I don't think so at all. I don't think where the names of the people. You mean the names of the people that are on the plane. You think that's going to make a difference?

COLLINS: Does it comfort their families that you are blaming DEI for this thing?

TRUMP: They are a group of people that have lost their lives. If you want a list of the names we can give you that, we'll be giving that very soon. We're in coordination with American Airlines. We're in coordination very strongly, obviously, with the military.

But I think that's not a very smart question. I'm surprised, coming from you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And the point obviously is not about the names or the list or the manifest. The point is that these bodies were still being pulled out of the Potomac as the president was raising these questions, and we do not know what has led to this.

There is very much investigation that is still underway. The chair of the NTSB was actually sitting alongside the wall in that room, and I noticed that the vice president got up and spoke also about these initiatives, so did the Defense secretary, who, of course, has been briefed on this, given the Black Hawk involvement and also the brand new Transportation secretary.

We never heard from the NTSB director herself during that briefing or the brand new acting FAA administrator. I should note that for all the talk about who is staffing and right now, Trump obviously took office at the beginning of last week, but there is no permanent FAA head, no deputy, FAA head, no permanent TSA head, and no deputy at the TSA either.

And so, a lot of questions about that, because the FAA had resigned after Trump won and before he took office. And there is no one at the TSA and so -- because Trump fired them. So real questions, of course, about the leadership there as this big investigation is going to get underway and real questions about what they change.

But, you know, it almost reminded me of the COVID briefings where we would be in there. And obviously people are tuning in to see what the president has to say at moments like these. Presidency and presidential history dates back to that. But it just shows, you know, in this moment how he chose to respond to it.

COOPER: Right and also because an investigation, any responsible investigation, it's going to take, you know, they may have a preliminary report in 30 days, they say, but it's going to take some time. He's trying to score a political point and link this to anti-DEI initiatives immediately and that will register in people's consciousness, whatever the results are down the road, people won't be paying as much attention.

Pete, when you heard this what did you think?

MUNTEAN: I put my head in my hands. I could not believe what I was hearing, you know, unpresidential and pretty unhinged, frankly, because DEI has been a focus of this administration. And in the hour and 40 minutes prior to this accident happening here, Sean Duffy, in one of his first acts as Transportation secretary, sent out a press release rescinding DEI policies at the FAA.

But I have to tell you, as the product of a woman pilot, airplanes don't know the difference. The control tower does not know the difference and really, DEI hiring has not changed the face of aviation all that much. It's a predominantly White, male dominated industry.

And so, you know, I also have to think and empathize for the families. My mom died in a plane crash when I was a teenager. I know what it's like to be sort of thrust into the unknown of that. These families are going through hell right now. And this comment from the president really even made it that much more hellish by throwing uncertain sort of conspiracy theories on this. It's not really helpful. And he really got ahead of his skis when it comes to this investigation.

Like you say, it was going to take a lot of time and probably years, there are going to be hearings. I mean, there are still parts of the airplane on the floor of the Potomac here, eight feet underwater. And so, this is much, much, much too soon to make any sort of indictment on any sort of policy and any sort of person in aviation.

COLLINS: The other part of this was one big question, and understandably, a concern that Americans have right now is, is it safe for me to fly? And that's something that a lot of people are asking. The US is known for its safety and commercial airliners. We haven't seen a crash like this in over 20 years.

But Trump reassured Americans twice during that briefing when we were in the room that, yes, it is safe to fly. But then he was questioning whether air traffic controllers have psychological problems.

COOPER: If you think there's blind people and people with serious psychological issues in the air traffic control booths, that would make you want to question whether you should fly. That is not the case. Anybody who's there has gone through rigorous training. There may be staffing issues, and all of that will be uncovered. But there are very strict qualifications to be an air traffic controller, which we'll talk about. Kaitlan, thanks, Pete Muntean.

During that same signing ceremony, this is what president Trump said when asked if he would visit the site of the crash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you have a plan to go visit the site or meet with any of the first responder?

TRUMP: I have a plan to visit, not the site because, you tell me what's the site, the water?

REPORTER: Or to meet with first responders down there?

TRUMP: I don't have a plan to do that but I will be meeting with some people that were badly hurt -- with their family member obviously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:30:40]

COOPER: CNN Senior Political Commentator Van Jones joins us now. Van, I mean, it's -- at first I wasn't sure we would talk to you tonight as a political commentator, but the fact that the President brought politics into this, and particularly DEI hiring, I'm wondering what your reaction to his claim, without any evidence, that, you know, trying to hire more black people or disabled veterans, which is what the FAA website, frankly, focuses a lot on, disabled veterans. What -- why he brought that up?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it's appalling. It's appalling. And I just can't imagine what these families must be going through. It's -- look, I have flown in and out of that airport, and so have you, more times than I can possibly count. It is every family's worst nightmare to say goodbye to someone to them to be texting you as they're taking off, and then you never see them again.

And you worry, how did they die and how much pain was there. And you're going through all this. And meanwhile, the President of the United States is acting like a kindergartner, just, you know, essentially making up stuff, making fun of people with disabilities, all kinds of conjecture.

This is not the right way to proceed in a situation like this. Also, something went wrong here. Something went wrong here. We need to find out what went wrong here so it doesn't happen again. The President of the United States fired a bunch of people for no reason who are supposed to be in charge, and he's taking, as usual, no responsibility.

So the blamer-in-chief, rather than being the consoler-in-chief, is behaving in a way that's appalling. It's just appalling. And, by the way, we are now, what, nine days into this? Ten days into this? You know, it's going to be -- are we just going to blame black and brown people for everything that happens for the next four years?

Every problem is a DEI problem? Every problem is some brown immigrant. Like, this is -- why run for president if you're not going to take care of the people of the United States in a time like this?

COOPER: It's also part of a strategy, and it's -- you know, he throws this out, and obviously, I mean, as a, you know, as a reporter, you have to raise, you know, the fact that what he's saying is, a, there's no evidence of it, and it just flies against the facts. But it also distracts from the fact that he had not appointed an interim head of the FAA, or, I mean, it is a way of diverting attention, in fact.

JONES: That's apparently the playbook. And this is the problem, and it's a big problem. There are going to be many, many times, many, many moments where something bad happens in America, where you need the commander-in-chief to step forward, to lead a process, to figure out what's going on, to comfort victims, to bring us together as a country.

And apparently, this is not in the job description of Donald Trump. Instead of doing the things that you need a president to do, you need a president. You need somebody to put -- this is a horrific, horrific accident. There's no way around it.

And the people who died, died in a horrible way. We need leadership. We need comfort. We need clarity. We need answers. We need someone who's going to -- by the way, if you misidentify the problem, you misidentify the solution, and this could happen again. And this should never happen again.

Blaming DEI for no reason may make it happen again.

COOPER: Van Jones, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Coming up, I'm going to speak with someone who knew two of the people on the plane in the chopper collision, young sisters who shared a passion for figure skating. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:38:59]

COOPER: Well, we're starting to learn more about some of the people who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy. The figure skating community is mourning tonight. Several of the passengers on that American Airlines flight were returning from a skating camp in Kansas.

Randi Kaye has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the photo that figure skater Spencer Lane snapped as he waited to take off from Wichita, Kansas, on American Airlines Flight 5342. Lane posted the photo on Instagram just before takeoff with a simple caption, ICT to DCA.

Spencer Lane was flying with his mother, Christine. They'd just attended the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and National Development Camp in Wichita. The Lanes had reportedly adopted Spencer and his brother from South Korea. Spencer had left high school to pursue a career in figure skating.

In December last year, he skated in a show organized by this woman.

ELIN SCHRAN, FOUNDER, JOY SKATE PRODUCTIONS: He was just beaming. This kid was so talented. He'd only started skating a few years ago, and he had all of his triples. He came to me and smiling ear to ear saying, I get it now. I understand.

[20:40:10]

He started to discover this connection with the audience and that joy that he was giving to other people through his gift. He said, please let me skate again with you next year.

KAYE (voice-over): That dream ended just before 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night in the freezing Potomac River. Lane was part of the skating club of Boston, which lost two skaters and their mothers at the well as two coaches in the crash. Several other skating clubs around the country also lost members.

Olympic U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, who trained at the skating club of Boston, went there to mourn and honor those who were lost.

NANCY KERRIGAN, 1994 OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST: I think it's a shock when you find out, you know, you know, some of the people on the plane is even a bigger blow.

KAYE (voice-over): Thirteen-year-old Jinna Han, another skater from Boston Skating Club, was also on board the flight with her mother, Jin Han.

DOUG ZEGHIBE, CEO, SKATING CLUB OF BOSTON: She was in it to win it. Just a delight. But for a little 13-year-old, just full of grace.

KAYE (voice-over): Two of the club's coaches, world champion skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, also died. The Russian-born skaters were married and competed twice in the Olympics. After they won the pair's title in the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, they moved to the United States and built successful coaching careers.

KERRIGAN: Everything you've heard of them like maybe being a little tough, but with a smile on their face and like all anytime I walked in, oh hi, it's so good to see you. It's like always welcoming and happy to see one another and like -- so just to think to walk in here and not see that is I think would be very strange for everybody. It's going to be hard.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COOPER: Randi mentioned several skating clubs around the country lost very talented young athletes. Among those killed, 14-year-old Everly Livingston and her 11-year-old sister Alida -- excuse me, Alydia, also their parents, Peter and Donna.

Joining us now is Kim Urban, who was at the same skating camp with her daughter, but they returned home on an earlier flight on a different airline. She knows the Livingston family well.

Kim, I'm so sorry for your loss and that we're talking under these circumstances. I know you and your daughter flew to Reagan National on a slightly earlier flight. When did you realize what happened last night?

KIM URBAN, FRIEND OF AMERICAN AIRLINES CRASH VICTIMS: Yes, thanks, Anderson. We arrived into Reagan a few minutes before the crash, unaware of what happened, left the airport. And it wasn't until we had arrived home that my daughter had come running in with a notification of the crash. And we immediately knew friends of ours that were on that particular flight.

COOPER: You -- I mean, you knew the Livingston family. Your daughter skated together. As you said, you were at the same camp. Can you tell us about them? What were they like?

URBAN: The Livingstons were just -- they were just a big personality family. They were loving, they were thoughtful. Donna and Peter were extraordinarily supportive parents. They were loving parents. They were doing anything for their children.

Alydia and Everly were like bright children, very talented skaters and super bubbly, just loving, talented. And it's just a tragic loss to our community.

COOPER: It's awesome that these two little girl sisters had the same love of skating. I mean, you can see them hugging each other in pretty much every photo. It's great that they were doing this together.

URBAN: Yes. They were a family of ice. In a way, they mirror our family. We look at them and we see our family as well. We have two girls of ours selves who both are skaters. Peter was a hockey player.

My husband played against him in adult hockey leagues. And Donna and I shared very similar personalities, super driven, very busy, involved in our children's lives. And just -- she's just a tremendous friend of mine.

COOPER: How are your kids doing?

URBAN: They're devastated. They've lost friends that they've skated alongside for eight years. And when you walk into the Ashburn Ice House, there's probably very minimal times that you don't walk in there and not find one of the Livingstons there.

[20:45:03]

Whether they all would do school from there, because many of them are homeschooled, to being on the ice throughout very early in the morning until late in the afternoon. They just were always a part of being there anytime they walked in there.

COOPER: Yes. Kim, I'm so sorry for what you and your family are going through and so many families. I really appreciate you telling us about the Livingstons. It's important to hear their names and to learn about their lives. So thank you.

URBAN: Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up next, we'll get some perspective on this tragedy from a former helicopter pilot of Blackhawks. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:50:13]

COOPER: Welcome back. You can still see some blue lights, which are on some small boats out on the Potomac. There's no divers in the water that's been suspended for the night. More than 40 people have been pulled from the icy waters of that river after last night's collision of that American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter.

The search will resume tomorrow, the recovery efforts. CNN's Kayla Tausche has more details now on some of those who lost their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Families descending on Reagan National Airport to remember the children, coaches, crew members, and soldiers all killed in the deadliest air crash on U.S. soil since 2001. The crew aboard flight 5342 included Captain Jonathan Campos and First Officer Sam Lilley, the 28-year-old recently engaged to be married.

His dad, Timothy saying, "I was so proud of Sam when he became a pilot. Now it hurts so bad, I can't even cry myself to sleep".

53-year-old Ian Epstein, one of the two flight attendants on board, remembered by his sister as someone who loved life, traveling, family, and his job.

SARA NELSON, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: Today is heartbreaking, and there are flight attendants all around the world who are identifying with those two flight attendants, whether they knew them or not.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): In the D.C. area, school districts are in mourning and offering resources with students and alumni among the dead. A Virginia congressman says his district is shattered.

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D), VIRGINIA: There are several people in our community who are on the plane and passed away, and it's just devastating to our community. You know, several of them, you know, frequented the Ashburn Ice House locally, which is a place I take my own kids ice skating. And, you know, it's a close-knit community here, and we're just all devastated by this. And so this is something that will stick with us for a long time.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): 26-year-old Asra Hussain Raza graduated with honors, married her college sweetheart. A consultant, she was commuting for a project at Wichita Hospital. Her father-in-law describes her as someone who went out of her way to help people.

A local steamfitters' union lost five members on board the flight, the trade said in a statement. Fifteen miles from the crash site, home base for three Army pilots whose Blackhawk collided with the jet. The Pentagon has not released the identities of the three soldiers from the 12th Aviation Battalion, with a combined 1,500 hours of flight training.

As the remains of one were pulled from the Potomac, seen here from Fox 5 D.C., first responders salute this service member's final mission.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

TAUSCHE (on-camera): Earlier today at Reagan, the CEO of American Airlines told me he was meeting with the victims' families and investigators. The NTSB says that those families will have the opportunity to visit the crash site once it's secured. Anderson?

COOPER: Kayla Tausche, thank you very much.

Coming up next, we're going to talk to that Blackhawk helicopter pilot about the midair crash and the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:57:54]

COOPER: And welcome back to our continuing coverage of the tragedy here on the Potomac. They are continuing at this hour, despite the frigid temperatures and the darkness, to search on the surface of the water of the Potomac. They're not going -- they're not sending divers down into the water to continue with their recovery, but they are searching, continuing overnight, we're told, to search on the water.

We've seen a couple of blue lights on small boats. And that -- the debris field is actually quite large from here. So it's going to be a long night for those crews. Divers will continue tomorrow morning with light to try to recover.

More 40 people have been recovered thus far, but obviously there is a lot more work to do, and it is difficult and dangerous, and it's going to take some time.

That's it for our coverage. Kaitlan Collins starts now with The Source.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, I'm Kaitlan Collins. And tonight The Source is live on the scene near the deadliest commercial airliner crash in the United States in 24 years. No one survived when an American Airlines flight and a Blackhawk Army helicopter collided here almost exactly 24 hours ago.

The aftermath has been nothing short of devastating for the families of the 67 people who were on board that plane or inside that helicopter. So far, somewhere around 40 bodies have been pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River, and sources familiar with the recovery efforts believe about 14 are still missing in the water tonight.

Four, I am told, are said to be accounted for, but they are pinned inside that plane still. Two U.S. Army soldiers inside the helicopter have yet to be removed, and we are told a crane to salvage what is left of the aircraft is about 24 to 48 hours away from being used here on the Potomac.

And we've also just learned tonight that searchers have recovered both of the black boxes from the --