Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters that both the helicopter and the plane were in a "standard flight pattern" before the collision.
He stressed that it's not unusual for military aircraft to fly up and down the Potomac River while planes are landing at DCA, and there is a procedure that they typically follow.
He said there was communication between the aircraft and air traffic control before the incident, and the "helicopter was aware that there was a plane in the area."
He said, "Everything was standard in the lead-up to the crash."
"It is not standard to have aircraft collide, I want to be clear on that," Duffy said. "But prior to the collision the flight paths that were being flown from the military and American, that was not unusual for what happens in the D.C. air space."
He declined to elaborate on specifics as the investigation is in its early stages. But he said the Trump administration "will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public," adding that "safety is our expectation."
"We have early indicators of what happened here, and I will tell you with complete confidence we have the safest airspace in the world," Duffy added.
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