The U.S. has classified the identity of the pilot of the helicopter that collided with the passenger jetliner

The U.S. Army is not revealing the identity of the female pilot of the military helicopter that collided with a passenger plane near Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30. The New York Times (NYT) reported on February 1.

"The Army released the names of the two male pilots killed when their Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines plane. But <...> did not name the third crew member, a female pilot, citing her family's request for privacy," the piece said.

The army said the helicopter crew members were "among the best."

According to the newspaper, it is still unclear what exactly prompted the family of the pilot to ask not to disclose her name. The NYT calls the issue of the woman's identity "particularly sensitive" as US President Donald Trump has previously blamed the tragedy on so-called diversity policies. Also, the new U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that "the military has lowered its standards by admitting women and racial minorities into its ranks."

The publication noted that currently more than 10,000 women hold combat positions in the U.S. military.

Gone under water: in the U.S., an airplane collided with a helicopter near the Potomac River

Extensive work is underway, divers are retrieving bodies

On the eve of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman reported that investigators have retrieved all the flight recorders (black boxes) from the crashed in the plane and helicopter. According to an NTSB spokesman, the helicopter's recorders have been merged and investigators are confident that they will also be able to retrieve all the necessary data from them.

On the night of January 30, an American Airlines passenger jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. After the crash, they fell into the Potomac River. There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane. Trump reported no survivors of the plane crash in Washington. According to the latest data, 41 bodies have been found, of which 28 have been identified.

CNN reported on January 30 that one of the flight recorders of the crashed passenger plane had been recovered from the Potomac River. The next day, Todd Inman, a member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said it could take a year to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there were Russian citizens in the plane that crashed in Washington, and Russian figure skaters were on board. He said the US and Russia had been in contact through diplomatic channels after the airplane crash. On February 1, the Russian Embassy in Washington reported that the U.S. State Department confirmed the data on the Russians Yevgeniya Shishkova, Vadim Naumov and Inna Volyanskaya who died in the plane crash.