It was a fairly experienced crew that was doing an annual required night evaluation,” the defense secretary said.

That’s called “jointness,” about which Hegseth knows little. He touted his Army background in the National Guard as a qualification to be secretary of Defense, but just as different cultures, goals and methods divide allies in a coalition, they also divide military branches.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion that includes the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the deadly crash near Ronald Reagan National Airport has been granted a 48-hour operational pause.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the helicopter that crashed into flight 5342 was retraining a continuity of government mission. Here's what that means.

Among the unanswered questions about the crash near Washington, D.C., are the flight pattern of the Black Hawk helicopter and the exact nature of its training exercise.

A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

Even though the investigation is ongoing and few details have been released, Trump quickly cast blame for the deadly midair collision that happened Wednesday night.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the military has identified the three soldiers killed in the Black Hawk collision over the Potomac River.

Two weeks into his presidency, Trump faced a major crisis with the plane crash near DCA. He brought his unconventional style to the matter

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.

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.