Quotes
The military is withholding the name of the female helicopter pilot. This is totally unacceptable. The helicopter was involved in, and may have actually caused, one of the worst airline disasters in American history. We have a right to know the names."
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh on X on Friday Their experience and dedication made our unit better, every day. As we mourn this tragic loss, our top priority is supporting their families, friends, and fellow Soldiers. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the families and friends of American Eagle Flight 5342,
Why do you think the White House is withholding the name of the Blackhawk pilot?"
Conservative country singer John Rich said on X Each of our fallen Soldiers were exceptional leaders and teammates. Their legacy and honorable service to our Nation will forever remain."
Erika A. Holownia, commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion, said in the release on Friday At the request of the family, the name of the third Soldier will not be released at this time."
Obviously, they're making really good progress in a short amount of time. But I'm sure that recovery of the victims should be the number one priority… providing closure to these families that have lost their loved ones should be the most important thing,
The Potomac is, is massive, you know, from where they are, it goes hundreds of miles all the way out to the Chesapeake Bay,
Once that is completed, then recovering the two aircraft and then also finding as much of the debris from the collision that they can in the river,
This is incredibly unusual. You know, we're trained and always ready to answer the call…when the dive call comes in. But that's typically involving one victim. And in rare occasions, a couple of victims,
Jake Crockett, a firefighter and diver with the Scuba Rescue Team of Chesterfield Fire & EMS, told Fox News Digital Once it's turned over to a recovery mission…our goal is to provide that closure,
They've got a really big job ahead of them, which is why I think this is going to be weeks-long, because in order to be thorough, they're going to be up and down that river for miles looking,
The first responder family is massive and everyone's always willing,
It's going to be zero visibility or close to zero is that they'll be diving in, and so looking for small parts of an aircraft in that kind of visibility is going to be extremely challenging…the waters here and the lakes and ponds and rivers…when you go in, it's just dark,
The water temperature especially is just above freezing, which is, you know, it would be absolutely unbearable to jump in without, you know, without the appropriate diving suits,
It would just be a bright mass of light, and it would be very distracting, and it would be very dangerous to fly in that with the night-vision goggles in that area,
They have to be familiar with all the routes around the capital,
There’s a lot of experts out there, but until we get the data from the black boxes, that’s the only truth, and we won’t know that for a little bit,
said Jonathan Koziol, a senior Army aviation adviser who’s helping with the investigation There are appropriate times to take risk, and there are inappropriate times to take risk,
Flying aircraft, it’s not like riding a bicycle,
said Loranger, who has represented family members of service members killed in military aircraft crashes That mission requires helicopters to fly that route,
