EXCLUSIVE: The top Republican on the House Transportation Committee’s subcommittee on aviation is calling for a congressional hearing into the deadly collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter in Washington, D.C.

"We say we are the gold standard, we just need to continue to maintain that level," Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who chairs the subcommittee, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

"I just want to sit down with all of them and, when the [National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)] does its report – make sure that it’s very accurate, it’s factual, and that they come up with some recommendations – and then we’ll have to see if we need to change direction or change course based upon those recommendations. But we don’t know yet."

Nehls praised Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves, noting his background as a pilot, and said he would be asking the Missouri Republican to convene meetings with the affected parties and those investigating the incident. Nehls suggested potential closed-door meetings to enable more candid discussions but said a public hearing would also be in order.

DC PLANE CRASH INVESTIGATORS TO REVIEW COMMUNICATION BETWEEN 2 AIRCRAFT: SENATOR 

"We have to find out the reason for the crash and then come up with, you know, recommendations to make sure it doesn’t happen again," he said. "We don’t need to be sitting on this. I don’t want to hear, ‘It’s going to take 18 months.’ I don’t want to hear that."

And it appears federal investigators are on that same page.

NTSB officials said they hope to have a preliminary report out in about 30 days.

"I think that would be fair," Nehls said. "But that shouldn't stop Congress looking into this and doing what we can to help. I think President Trump… expects it, and he has a right to expect it from us, to make sure that we keep our aviation industry the standard for the world."

And while he is hoping for quick results, Nehls emphatically cautioned against any early speculation about who or what is to blame for the tragedy.

RECOVERY EFFORTS UNDERWAY AFTER AMERICAN AIRLINES JET, MILITARY HELICOPTER COLLIDE MIDAIR NEAR DC

"Everybody wants to speculate as to how did this happen, why this happened. Whose fault is that? Is it the helicopter? Was it the airplane?" Nehls said. 

"I think that is irresponsible. I think you just need to give it time for the NTSB to investigate, you know, conduct a very thorough investigation."

Finger-pointing and speculation have already run rampant, however. Some have blamed Congress for authorizing too many new airline contracts at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is closer to the U.S. Capitol than the much larger Washington-Dulles International Airport.

Others, primarily on the right, have argued that diversity initiatives by Democratic administrations helped lead to the tragedy.

"I think it’s too early for all of that," Nehls said when asked about both.

No evidence has come out to support any conclusion or cause of the crash so far.

Nehls spoke with Fox News Digital the day after a Black Hawk helicopter carrying three service members crashed into a passenger plane heading from Wichita, Kansas, which was moments away from landing at Reagan National Airport.

Both aircraft were seen plummeting into the Potomac River between Washington and neighboring Arlington, Virginia, where the airport is located.

U.S. officials have said there are no survivors, and recovery efforts are still underway.

Fox News Digital reached out to the House Transportation Committee for comment.

American Airlines has said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the plane, and the airline encouraged any loved ones looking for information to call the numbers on its site.

Kansas’ entire congressional delegation is vowing to find answers for the families grieving loved ones after the deadly crash of a flight from Wichita to Washington D.C., which officials have said left no survivors.

A Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines PSA commercial jet that was moments from landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport Wednesday night, temporarily halting all flights in and out of the small but critically located airport.

"Our prayers are with the families and friends of those affected by the tragic plane crash that occurred in our nation’s capital. South Central Kansas is a close community, and it's likely that many of us directly or indirectly know people who were on Flight 5342 on Jan. 29," the lawmakers’ joint written statement said.

VIDEO SHOWS DC PLANE CRASH INVOLVING AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT, BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER

"This is a sad day for Kansans and our nation, and this community, steeped in aviation and manufacturing history, will feel the pain of this catastrophe for years to come. We are grateful for the first responders and rescue crews who worked through the night.

"Our focus now is supporting the family and friends of those who perished, including the crew and military personnel, and then getting answers for the grieving individuals who have lost a loved one and making sure this doesn't happen again."

It was signed by GOP Kansas senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, as well as Republican House representatives Ron Estes, Tracey Mann, Derek Schmidt and the delegation’s lone Democrat, Sharice Davids.

Estes represents much of Wichita, where the flight originated.

Moran said in a press conference shortly after midnight Thursday he was familiar with the flight route, having lobbied American Airlines for it to begin last year.

President Donald Trump briefed reporters on the crisis earlier Thursday, saying there were no survivors from the crash.

Members of Trump’s new Cabinet, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, both promised to find swift answers for the families grieving loved ones after the crash.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who represents Arlington County, where the airport is located, similarly said he would work toward accountability.

"As the local representative, I want the families to know that our office is available to serve you in any way that we possibly can in this time of grief and transition and loss," Beyer said at another press conference Thursday morning.

AMERICAN AIRLINES CEO EXPRESSES 'DEEP SORROW' AFTER MIDAIR COLLISION

"And then, also, I’d just note that we are deeply grateful for the people who risked their lives last night on a moment’s notice and spent the whole night on the river in the ice and the wind, serving us."

Beyer added that, through the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) probe into the crash, "we’ve got to make sure that, at the federal level and with the support of Virginia, Maryland, and D.C., we’re doing everything we can to make sure that this does not happen again."

American Airlines has said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the plane, and the airline encouraged any loved ones looking for information to call the numbers on its site.

U.S. officials are investigating why the Black Hawk helicopter flew into the path of the descending plane, Duffy told reporters.

"I would say the helicopter was aware there was a plane in the area," he said.

Hegseth said the helicopter was manned by an experienced crew and was undergoing an "annual proficiency training flight."

Duffy told reporters that while the collision was a highly unusual and tragic event, the two aircraft's mutual patterns were not atypical.

An estimated 67 people are presumed dead after a Black Hawk helicopter collided with a commercial American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening.

A total of 64 people, including four staff members, were aboard passenger American Airlines Flight 5342, and three soldiers were on the Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that came from Fort Belvoir in Virginia. 

AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE, ARMY HELICOPTER COLLIDE OUTSIDE REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT NEAR WASHINGTON DC

Here is a timeline of events leading up to and immediately after the Wednesday night crash:

AA Flight 5342 departs Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ITC) for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) at 5:18 p.m. CST, or 6:18 p.m. EST, according to air traffic control records from FlightRadar24.

An Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter departs Fort Belvoir as part of a training exercise. An senior Army official told Fox News the soldiers were part of a "fairly experienced" Black Hawk crew, and they had night vision goggles aboard the helicopter.

Flight 5342 began to descend into DCA from the south.

DC PLANE CRASH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AUDIO REVEALS MOMENT CONTROLLERS SAW DISASTER: ‘TOWER DID YOU SEE THAT?’

Air traffic controllers ask Flight 5342 to land on Runway 33, and pilots acknowledge the order.

ATC AUDIO:

An air traffic control official asks the Black Hawk (PAT-25) pilot whether he can see the commercial aircraft.

"Do you have the CRJ in sight?" the controller asks, and the helicopter pilot confirms he sees the passenger plane and requests "visual separation," meaning he is trying to get out of the flight's path, according to FlightRadar24 audio.

"PAT-25, do you have the CRJ in sight?" the controller can be heard saying to the helicopter pilot 30 seconds before the crash.

The controller makes another radio call to PAT-25 moments later: "PAT-25, pass behind the CRJ."

ATC AUDIO REVEALS MOMENT CONTROLLERS SAW DISASTER:

Army UH-60 and Flight 5342 then collide over the Potomac River, causing an explosion midair at an altitude of about 300 feet that was caught on camera.

Air traffic controllers can be heard reacting, and asking, "Did you see that?"

The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) receives phone calls reporting a plane crash over the Potomac. 

REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH: MILITARY BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER COLLIDES MIDAIR WITH AMERICAN AIRLINES JET

MPD, D.C. Fire and EMS, and "multiple partner agencies" begin coordinating a search and rescue operation.

DCA closes due to an "aircraft emergency."

The DC Fire and EMS Department posts an update on X stating, "Confirmed small aircraft down in Potomac River vicinity Reagan National Airport. Fireboats on scene."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posts a statement from President Donald Trump to X.

"I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise," the statement reads.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser holds a press conference with other law enforcement personnel and announces that a passenger aircraft collided with a military aircraft.

DC Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly announces that officials "have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter."

"Despite all these efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," Donnelly says.

Officials hold a press conference in Washington, D.C., saying all 67 passengers, crew members and soldiers on board both aircraft are presumed dead.

"We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," Donnelly says during the briefing. "We don’t believe there are any survivors."

Flights resume landing at DCA; the first aircraft lands at the airport at 11:02 a.m.

A Department of Homeland Security source told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning that there are "no terror concerns" after the collision, and officials suspect the crash was "just a tragedy."

Prior to the deadly collision, there had been a military aircraft-involved crash in Alaska on Tuesday. Officials said a U.S. Air Force F-35 fighter jet crashed in Alaska after the pilot managed to safely eject from the aircraft.

There have been at least 238 deaths and 227 injuries stemming from non-combat U.S. military aircraft crashes since 2012, according to the FAA.

There have also been multiple "close call" incidents at DCA since 2023.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington Wednesday night had three soldiers on board, Fox News has learned. 

The three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk when it crashed have not been publicly identified, but the helicopter was not carrying any VIPs or senior officials, an Army official told Fox News. 

Fox News also confirmed newly sworn-in Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was not involved in the incident. 

Hegseth was at the White House shortly before the crash and is actively monitoring the situation. 

AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE, ARMY HELICOPTER COLLIDE OUTSIDE REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT NEAR WASHINGTON DC

The helicopter had flown out of Davidson Air Base at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and crashed while performing a training mission, Army officials said. 

Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling also sits across the river from Reagan National Airport.

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. 

Modified versions have also been developed for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The Black Hawk can carry up to 15 people, including two pilots, two crew chiefs and two rescue specialists. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. 

American Airlines Flight 5342 had departed from Wichita, Kansas, and had 60 passengers and four crew members on board. 

Multiple fatalities have been reported, and no survivors are expected, as officials said they have moved from a rescue to a recovery operation.

Passengers on the flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts," U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.

AMERICAN FIGURE SKATING MEMBERS, RUSSIAN OLYMPIANS ABOARD PLANE IN REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH

Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin as Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships and competed twice in the Olympics. The Skating Club of Boston lists them as coaches and their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figure skater for the U.S.

The crash occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.

Audio from air traffic control at Reagan airport captured Flight 5342 being told to use Runway 33 until air traffic controllers realized something had happened and started telling other aircraft to land or divert.

"Everybody hold your positions on the field right now," air traffic control said. "Fire command. The accident happened in the river. Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river."

"It was probably out in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball, and then it was just gone," an air traffic controller said. "I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit." 

PSA Airlines is a subsidiary of American Airlines, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating, and the NTSB is leading the probe. 

The route of the flight that crashed is fairly new. Direct flights from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport to Ronald Reagan National Airport started Jan. 8, 2024, Jesse Romo, Wichita Airport Authority Director of Airports, said.

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"I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself," Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, R-Kansas, told the Associated Press. He said he expected that many people in Wichita would know people who were on the flight.

"This is a very personal circumstance," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hazardous snow, sleet and freezing rain disrupted travel plans and caused power outages in the Mid-Atlantic region, as bitter cold set in.

Six states, including one with a Democratic governor, have either banned or prohibited the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in public colleges and universities this year.

The practice of DEI in higher educational institutions has been controversial for several years, most frequently opposed by Republicans and described by critics, such as civil rights attorney Devon Westhill, as an "industry that pushes a left-wing, far-left ideological orthodoxy in essentially every area of American life."

In 2024 alone, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Utah either banned or limited the use of such teaching or use in the application process in their state's education system.

In January, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed legislation to prohibit institutions from engaging in "discriminatory practices" such as "that an individual, by virtue of the individual’s personal identity characteristics, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals with the same personal identity characteristics." 

INDIANA UNIVERSITY COURSE TEACHES PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY ‘OPPRESSORS’ BECAUSE OF THEIR RACE, SEX, RELIGION

The anti-DEI law also banned schools from having any policy, procedure, practice, program, office, initiative, or required training that is referred to or called "diversity, equity and inclusion."

In March, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama signed SB 129 into law. It prohibits certain DEI offices, as well as the "promotion, endorsement, and affirmation of certain divisive concepts in certain public settings."

The bill bans "divisive concepts," such as "that any individual should accept, acknowledge, affirm, or assent to a sense of guilt, complicity, or a need to apologize on the basis of his or her race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin" and "that meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist."

The legislation also required that restrooms be used on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity, and that public institutions of higher education "authorize certain penalties for violation."

Also in March, Indiana adopted legislation to amend the duties of state educational institutions' diversity committees and increase "intellectual diversity." Additionally, the Indiana House introduced legislation to further prohibit DEI teachings in schools by mandating that educators "shall not promote in any course certain concepts related to race or sex."

BIDEN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SPENT OVER $1 BILLION ON DEI GRANTS: REPORT

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, allowed legislation prohibiting postsecondary educational institutions from engaging in certain DEI-related actions to become law without her signature. The bill, passed in April, imposes a $10,000 fine on any public institution that employs DEI practices in faculty hiring or student enrollment processes.

"While I have concerns about this legislation, I don’t believe that the conduct targeted in this legislation occurs in our universities," Kelly wrote in her passage of the bill.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, another Republican, signed an education-funding bill in May that contained provisions to limit DEI in schools, just months after the state's board of education began to scale back on such practices in higher education.

The bill prohibits "any effort to promote, as the official position of the public institution of higher education, a particular, widely contested opinion referencing unconscious or implicit bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, transgender ideology, microaggressions, group marginalization, antiracism, systemic oppression, social justice, intersectionality, nee-pronouns, heteronormativity, disparate impact, gender theory, racial privilege, sexual privilege, or any related formulation of these concepts." 

Idaho became the latest state to determine that institutions may not "require specific structures or activities related to DEI."

In December, the Idaho Board of Education unanimously agreed on a resolution requiring that institutions "ensure that no central offices, policies, procedures, or initiatives are dedicated to DEI ideology" and "ensure that no employee or student is required to declare gender identity or preferred pronouns."

Other states, such as Florida, Texas and Tennessee, have all previously banned the practice of DEI in higher education.