TOPEKA —Thursday morning, Governor Laura Kelly released a statement on the deadly airplane, helicopter crash.

"I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives last night and extend my deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones. I have been in constant communication with federal, state, and local officials overnight and want to thank the over 300 first responders from across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for their response efforts. I will issue a flag order today to acknowledge this devastating event and tragic loss of lives."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738235840631.png" alt="Departure signs display an "Emergency Alert" in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. (AP Photo/Jeannie Ohm)" />
 <figcaption>Departure signs display an "Emergency Alert" in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. (AP Photo/Jeannie Ohm)</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA —Thursday morning, Governor Laura Kelly released a statement on the deadly airplane, helicopter crash."I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives last night and extend my deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones. I have been in constant communication with federal, state, and local officials overnight and want to thank the over 300 first responders from across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for their response efforts. I will issue a flag order today to acknowledge this devastating event and tragic loss of lives."<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Currently at Washington Reagan National airport talking with officials. There will be a press conference shortly to provide more information on the American Airlines flight. <a href="https://t.co/f9JPEdsIbr">pic.twitter.com/f9JPEdsIbr</a>&mdash; Senator Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryMoran/status/1884838657976095094?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">We will continue to work through the night to get answers alongside federal, state and local officials. Pray for Kansas. Pray for the passengers, pilots, the first responders, rescue crews, and their families. <a href="https://t.co/uQDiPMhzVg">pic.twitter.com/uQDiPMhzVg</a>&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1884857317599883570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I’m heartbroken by last night’s tragic midair collision. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those lost. Right now, my focus is on recovery efforts and doing what we can to support Kansas families. I continue to extend my thanks to local first responders who are…&mdash; Rep. Sharice Davids (@RepDavids) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDavids/status/1884960939557945647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">My team and I are actively monitoring updates related to the collision of the Wichita flight and a DC helicopter. Audrey and I are praying for the safety of the passengers, flight crew, and everyone involved. Please join us in praying.&mdash; Tracey Mann (@RepMann) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMann/status/1884792910433918993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Rep. Schmidt statement: As details continue to emerge, it&#39;s clear that lives have been lost due to this horrific tragedy. Please join me in praying for all those involved in the crash, our brave first responders working diligently at the scene, and our state of Kansas. (1/2)&mdash; Rep. Derek Schmidt Press (@RepDerekSchmidt) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDerekSchmidt/status/1884832993006518739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Kan. lawmakers respond to deadly airplane, helicopter crash

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead in what was likely to be the worst U.S. aviation disaster in almost a quarter century, officials said Thursday.

At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">the midair collision Wednesday night</a>&nbsp;when the helicopter apparently flew in the path of the jet as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., officials said.

Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">the deadliest U.S. air crash</a>&nbsp;in nearly 24 years.

“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”

The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport.

There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the collision</a>, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with U.S. and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.

“On final approach into Reagan National it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. "At this time we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the ... aircraft.”

Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter during a training flight, an Army official previously said.

Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.

Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts’ final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.

“I would just say that everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “That when you depart an airport, you get to your destination. That didn’t happen last night and I know that President Trump, his administration, the FAA, the DOT, we will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public. You should be assured that when you fly, you’re safe.”

Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.

Duffy,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sean-duffy-transportation-elon-musk-selfdriving-spacex-tesla-31c739cfb56737413d40c5d1492225df">just sworn in earlier this week</a>, was asked if he could reassure Americans that the United States still has the safest airspace in the world.

“Can I guarantee the American flying public that the United States has the most safe and secure airspace in the world? And the answer to that is, absolutely yes, we do,” he said.

Authorities have ‘early indicators’ of what went wrong

The night was clear, the plane and helicopter were both in standard flight patterns and there was standard communication between the aircraft and the tower, Duffy said.

“We have early indicators of what happened here,” Duffy said, though he declined to elaborate further pending an investigation.

It was not unusual to have a military aircraft flying the river and an aircraft landing at the airport, he said. Asked if the plane was aware that there was a helicopter in the area, Duffy said he would say that the helicopter was aware that there was a plane in the area.

Asked about President Donald Trump suggesting in an overnight social media post that the collision could have been prevented, Duffy said, “From what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not appear at the Thursday morning press conference.

Likely the deadliest plane crash since November 2001

If everyone aboard the plane was killed, it will make it the deadliest U.S. airline crash since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight just after takeoff crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, killing all 260 people aboard.

The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

Passengers on Wednesday's flight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">included a group of figure skaters</a>, 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.

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 FAA said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over 3 miles south of the White House and the Capitol.

American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet (122 meters) and a speed of about 140 mph (225 kph) when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet (732 meters) short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.

<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OHKkQu6RU04?si=3XpvUR56gs2QjFTR" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead in what was likely to be the worst U.S. aviation disaster in almost a quarter century, officials said Thursday.At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">the midair collision Wednesday night</a>&nbsp;when the helicopter apparently flew in the path of the jet as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., officials said.Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">the deadliest U.S. air crash</a>&nbsp;in nearly 24 years.“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport.There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the collision</a>, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with U.S. and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.“On final approach into Reagan National it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. "At this time we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the ... aircraft.”Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter during a training flight, an Army official previously said.Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts’ final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.“I would just say that everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “That when you depart an airport, you get to your destination. That didn’t happen last night and I know that President Trump, his administration, the FAA, the DOT, we will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public. You should be assured that when you fly, you’re safe.”Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.Duffy,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sean-duffy-transportation-elon-musk-selfdriving-spacex-tesla-31c739cfb56737413d40c5d1492225df">just sworn in earlier this week</a>, was asked if he could reassure Americans that the United States still has the safest airspace in the world.“Can I guarantee the American flying public that the United States has the most safe and secure airspace in the world? And the answer to that is, absolutely yes, we do,” he said.<h2>Authorities have ‘early indicators’ of what went wrong</h2>The night was clear, the plane and helicopter were both in standard flight patterns and there was standard communication between the aircraft and the tower, Duffy said.“We have early indicators of what happened here,” Duffy said, though he declined to elaborate further pending an investigation.It was not unusual to have a military aircraft flying the river and an aircraft landing at the airport, he said. Asked if the plane was aware that there was a helicopter in the area, Duffy said he would say that the helicopter was aware that there was a plane in the area.Asked about President Donald Trump suggesting in an overnight social media post that the collision could have been prevented, Duffy said, “From what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.”Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not appear at the Thursday morning press conference.<h2>Likely the deadliest plane crash since November 2001</h2>If everyone aboard the plane was killed, it will make it the deadliest U.S. airline crash since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight just after takeoff crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, killing all 260 people aboard.The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.Passengers on Wednesday's flight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">included a group of figure skaters</a>, 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.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.<h2>What happened</h2>The FAA said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over 3 miles south of the White House and the Capitol.American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet (122 meters) and a speed of about 140 mph (225 kph) when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet (732 meters) short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.___

🎥Wichita mayor news conference in response to deadly airplane crash

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">collided with an Army helicopter while landing</a>&nbsp;at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said Thursday.

Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any other survivors, which would make it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">the deadliest U.S. air crash</a>&nbsp;in nearly 24 years.

The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.

There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the Wednesday collision</a>, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with U.S. and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.

Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter during a training flight, an Army official said.

Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.

“When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow," Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said.

President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”

Passengers on the flight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">included a group of figure skaters</a>, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. It 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.

Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.

American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.

“I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. 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 collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.

Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.

The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.

The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.

Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.

Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.

The collision recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738207177867.png" alt="Image from Kennedy Center web camera at the time of the collision&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Image from Kennedy Center web camera at the time of the collision&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">collided with an Army helicopter while landing</a>&nbsp;at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said Thursday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Fire &amp; EMS Chief John Donnelly: &quot;We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point we don&#39;t believe there are any survivors from this accident. We have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/422JqoEiVO">pic.twitter.com/422JqoEiVO</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1884965008783667498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any other survivors, which would make it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">the deadliest U.S. air crash</a>&nbsp;in nearly 24 years.“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738234427975.png" alt="Signs display an "Emergency Alert" above an American Airlines counter in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. (AP Photo/Jeannie Ohm)" />
 <figcaption>Signs display an "Emergency Alert" above an American Airlines counter in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. (AP Photo/Jeannie Ohm)</figcaption>
 </figure>There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the Wednesday collision</a>, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with U.S. and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.“On final approach into Reagan National it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. "At this time we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the ... aircraft.”Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter during a training flight, an Army official said.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">For more information, visit <a href="https://t.co/ECDOdj1kdr">https://t.co/ECDOdj1kdr</a>. <a href="https://t.co/Z5vWq4vUJ2">pic.twitter.com/Z5vWq4vUJ2</a>&mdash; The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1884801160353116489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.“When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow," Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said.President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”Passengers on the flight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">included a group of figure skaters</a>, 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.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 Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. It 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.Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.“I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. 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 collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.The collision recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.___Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.

🎥Fire Chief: No survivors after jet from Kan. collided with Army helicopter 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Passengers aboard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">the American Airlines flight</a>&nbsp;that collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River included figure skaters returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and two of their Russian coaches.

There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines flight on Wednesday and three soldiers aboard the training flight on the Blackhawk helicopter. Hope of rescuing any survivors evaporated by daybreak.

"We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital, on Thursday morning. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”

Donnelly said he's confident that the remains of those killed in the crash will be recovered, but it may take some time.

U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement that several skaters, coaches and their family members were on the commercial flight after attending a development camp that followed the championships that wrapped up Sunday in Wichita, Kansas.

Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin as a Russian couple who were pairs world champions 30 years ago.

It's not the first time that the U.S. figure skating community has been rocked by an air tragedy. The 18-member U.S. team that was set to compete in the 1961 world championships at Prague died when Sabena Flight 548 crashed on Feb. 15, 1961, in Berg-Kampenhout, about 45 minutes outside of Brussels. Also killed were six U.S. coaches and four skating officials, along with some family members.

American Airlines set up a hotline as well as centers in Washington and Wichita for people searching for information about family members who may have been aboard Wednesday's downed flight.

Here are the passengers identified in Wednesday night's crash so far:

Shishkova and Naumov won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships in Chiba, Japan. They competed twice in the Olympics.

The Skating Club of Boston lists them as coaches. Their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figure skater for the U.S.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Shishkova and Naumov were aboard the plane.

“Unfortunately, we see that this sad information is being confirmed," Peskov said. “There were other fellow citizens there. Bad news today from Washington. We are sorry and send condolences to the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in the plane crash.”

The International Skating Union sent a statement saying it was deeply shocked and heartbroken.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Passengers aboard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">the American Airlines flight</a>&nbsp;that collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River included figure skaters returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and two of their Russian coaches.There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines flight on Wednesday and three soldiers aboard the training flight on the Blackhawk helicopter. Hope of rescuing any survivors evaporated by daybreak."We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital, on Thursday morning. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”Donnelly said he's confident that the remains of those killed in the crash will be recovered, but it may take some time.U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement that several skaters, coaches and their family members were on the commercial flight after attending a development camp that followed the championships that wrapped up Sunday in Wichita, Kansas.“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin as a Russian couple who were pairs world champions 30 years ago.It's not the first time that the U.S. figure skating community has been rocked by an air tragedy. The 18-member U.S. team that was set to compete in the 1961 world championships at Prague died when Sabena Flight 548 crashed on Feb. 15, 1961, in Berg-Kampenhout, about 45 minutes outside of Brussels. Also killed were six U.S. coaches and four skating officials, along with some family members.American Airlines set up a hotline as well as centers in Washington and Wichita for people searching for information about family members who may have been aboard Wednesday's downed flight.Here are the passengers identified in Wednesday night's crash so far:___<h2>Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov</h2>Shishkova and Naumov won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships in Chiba, Japan. They competed twice in the Olympics.The Skating Club of Boston lists them as coaches. Their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figure skater for the U.S.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Shishkova and Naumov were aboard the plane.“Unfortunately, we see that this sad information is being confirmed," Peskov said. “There were other fellow citizens there. Bad news today from Washington. We are sorry and send condolences to the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in the plane crash.”The International Skating Union sent a statement saying it was deeply shocked and heartbroken.

Passengers on downed flight included American and Russian figure skaters

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">collided with an Army helicopter</a>&nbsp;while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.&nbsp;

Sen. Jerry Moran said the plane that crashed was flying a route from Wichita to Washington that began about a year ago. “I know that flight,” he said. “I’ve flown it several times myself.” Moran said he expected that many people in Wichita would know people who were on the flight. “This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.

Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the Wednesday collision</a>, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.

“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a somber news conference at the airport in which she declined to say how many bodies had been recovered.

The person who told The Associated Press that there had been multiple deaths was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said, “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow.”

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.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed “deep sorrow” for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.

“It’s a highly complex operation,” said D.C. fire chief John Donnelly. "The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.”

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">last major fatal crash</a>&nbsp;involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738236323050.png" alt="New U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran during the overnight press conference" />
 <figcaption>New U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran during the overnight press conference</figcaption>
 </figure>ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">collided with an Army helicopter</a>&nbsp;while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.&nbsp;Sen. Jerry Moran said the plane that crashed was flying a route from Wichita to Washington that began about a year ago. “I know that flight,” he said. “I’ve flown it several times myself.” Moran said he expected that many people in Wichita would know people who were on the flight. “This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.Click the video below to watch<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">LIVE: Update on Tonight&#39;s Plane Collision <a href="https://t.co/8IK8LlKp07">https://t.co/8IK8LlKp07</a>&mdash; Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorBowser/status/1884842402638102811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said.There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the Wednesday collision</a>, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a somber news conference at the airport in which she declined to say how many bodies had been recovered.The person who told The Associated Press that there had been multiple deaths was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said, “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow.”President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”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.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 Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. It 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.Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.“I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. 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 collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed “deep sorrow” for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.“It’s a highly complex operation,” said D.C. fire chief John Donnelly. "The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.”The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">last major fatal crash</a>&nbsp;involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.The collision recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.___Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.

🎥 Kan. lawmakers hold press conference following aircraft tragedy

At noon Thursday, a prayer service hosted by the Greater Wichita Ministerial League will be held at City Hall, 455 N. Main, in the Wichita City Council Chambers, according to a statement from the City.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">collided with an Army helicopter</a>&nbsp;while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738235840631.png" alt="Departure signs display an "Emergency Alert" in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. (AP Photo/Jeannie Ohm)" />
 <figcaption>Departure signs display an "Emergency Alert" in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. (AP Photo/Jeannie Ohm)</figcaption>
 </figure>At noon Thursday, a prayer service hosted by the Greater Wichita Ministerial League will be held at City Hall, 455 N. Main, in the Wichita City Council Chambers, according to a statement from the City.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738243774102.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">collided with an Army helicopter while landing</a>&nbsp;at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said Thursday.Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any other survivors, which would make it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">the deadliest U.S. air crash</a>&nbsp;in nearly 24 years.“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the Wednesday collision</a>, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with U.S. and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.“On final approach into Reagan National it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. "At this time we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the ... aircraft.”Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter during a training flight, an Army official said.Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.“When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow," Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said.President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”Passengers on the flight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">included a group of figure skaters</a>, 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.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 Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. It 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.Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.“I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. 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 collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.The collision recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.___ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">collided with an Army helicopter</a>&nbsp;while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said.There was no immediate word on the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-cebb142d24859ba0c4e0e4fd6c33773f">the Wednesday collision</a>, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a somber news conference at the airport in which she declined to say how many bodies had been recovered.The person who told The Associated Press that there had been multiple deaths was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said, “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow.”President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”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.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 Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. It 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.Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.“I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. 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 collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed “deep sorrow” for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.“It’s a highly complex operation,” said D.C. fire chief John Donnelly. "The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.”The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">last major fatal crash</a>&nbsp;involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.

Prayer service Thursday following airplane, helicopter crash

KANSAS CITY —The Clay County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, led a counter-human trafficking operation Jan. 23 and 24 that resulted in the arrest of two men who sought to have sex with a child, as well as services provided to more than a dozen potential trafficking victims.

Two men identified as 33-year-old&nbsp;Jose Trinidad-Diaz of Kansas City, Mo. / Mexico and 34-year-old&nbsp;Dominic Shelby of Kansas City, Kan. &nbsp;have been charged with felony attempted child enticement after they tried to meet whom they believed to be a 14-year-old girl for sex.

 It was actually under-cover detectives who had been chatting with them online and by text message. 

At the same time as the predator operation, investigators conducted a victim advocacy operation at a Clay County hotel. They had posted an online ad purportedly soliciting sex, knowing that many sex workers are victims of human trafficking. Twenty-seven sex workers responded to the hotel, and 13 agreed to accept services to leave a life of sex trafficking and/or sex work. Advocates from the organizations Value Unconditional and Relentless Pursuit met with them to begin giving them resources for their journeys.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738161592950.png" alt="Trinidad-Diaz-photo Clay Co." />
 <figcaption>Trinidad-Diaz-photo Clay Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —The Clay County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, led a counter-human trafficking operation Jan. 23 and 24 that resulted in the arrest of two men who sought to have sex with a child, as well as services provided to more than a dozen potential trafficking victims.Two men identified as 33-year-old&nbsp;Jose Trinidad-Diaz of Kansas City, Mo. / Mexico and 34-year-old&nbsp;Dominic Shelby of Kansas City, Kan. &nbsp;have been charged with felony attempted child enticement after they tried to meet whom they believed to be a 14-year-old girl for sex. It was actually under-cover detectives who had been chatting with them online and by text message. At the same time as the predator operation, investigators conducted a victim advocacy operation at a Clay County hotel. They had posted an online ad purportedly soliciting sex, knowing that many sex workers are victims of human trafficking. Twenty-seven sex workers responded to the hotel, and 13 agreed to accept services to leave a life of sex trafficking and/or sex work. Advocates from the organizations Value Unconditional and Relentless Pursuit met with them to begin giving them resources for their journeys.

Kan. man arrested after human trafficking, child sexual abuse sting

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT Hays Post

A 29-year-old Kansas man accused of allowing his infant son to fatally ingest methamphetamine was officially charged with murder last week and will go to trial later this year.

Abraham Duran Leon appeared in front of District Judge Curtis Brown in Ellis County District Court on Jan. 22 and was charged with first-degree murder in the commission of a felony. The felony stems from possession of methamphetamine. The alternate charge in the chase is murder in the second degree, unintentional but reckless.

According to court documents, in the early morning hours of April 2, 2024, Leon’s 5-month-old infant son was found unresponsive and not breathing.

An autopsy report revealed the child had methamphetamine in his system and died from complications related to methamphetamine intoxication.

Leon is being held on two other cases totaling nine charges, seven felonies and two misdemeanors.

Among those charges are two counts of drug possession, three counts of interference with a law enforcement officer, felony fleeing and eluding, and criminal damage to property.

Leon, who is&nbsp;represented by two court-appointed attorneys, has filed several pro se motions in all three of the cases.

Those included a motion to suppress evidence, a writ of habeas corpus claiming there is no jurisdiction he is held in prison and several motions to dismiss the case because his right to a speedy trial has been violated.

During the hearing, Judge Brown explained to Leon his right to a speedy trial does not start until he is arraigned.

He also told Leon any delays caused by the defendant’s motions would not count against the state’s time. It has to take him to trial, and it counts against the defendant.

Ellis County Attorney Aaron Cunningham said the state wants to try all three cases separately, and the state will be going forward with a jury trial in the murder case.

The court initially scheduled the trial for late June, but that has already been moved to September.

Because Leon has filed several motions himself, the court will have a special hearing on March 7 to consider them.

Leon remains in the custody of the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712771901192.png" alt="Leon-photo Ellis County" />
 <figcaption>Leon-photo Ellis County</figcaption>
 </figure>By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT Hays PostA 29-year-old Kansas man accused of allowing his infant son to fatally ingest methamphetamine was officially charged with murder last week and will go to trial later this year.Abraham Duran Leon appeared in front of District Judge Curtis Brown in Ellis County District Court on Jan. 22 and was charged with first-degree murder in the commission of a felony. The felony stems from possession of methamphetamine. The alternate charge in the chase is murder in the second degree, unintentional but reckless.According to court documents, in the early morning hours of April 2, 2024, Leon’s 5-month-old infant son was found unresponsive and not breathing.An autopsy report revealed the child had methamphetamine in his system and died from complications related to methamphetamine intoxication.Leon is being held on two other cases totaling nine charges, seven felonies and two misdemeanors.Among those charges are two counts of drug possession, three counts of interference with a law enforcement officer, felony fleeing and eluding, and criminal damage to property.Leon pleaded not guilty to all charges.Leon, who is&nbsp;represented by two court-appointed attorneys, has filed several pro se motions in all three of the cases.Those included a motion to suppress evidence, a writ of habeas corpus claiming there is no jurisdiction he is held in prison and several motions to dismiss the case because his right to a speedy trial has been violated.During the hearing, Judge Brown explained to Leon his right to a speedy trial does not start until he is arraigned.He also told Leon any delays caused by the defendant’s motions would not count against the state’s time. It has to take him to trial, and it counts against the defendant.Ellis County Attorney Aaron Cunningham said the state wants to try all three cases separately, and the state will be going forward with a jury trial in the murder case.The court initially scheduled the trial for late June, but that has already been moved to September.Because Leon has filed several motions himself, the court will have a special hearing on March 7 to consider them.Leon remains in the custody of the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department.

NW Kan. man enters plea in 5-month-old son's drug death

JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.

Just after 9:30p.m. Jan. 23, a&nbsp;Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2021 Nissan Altima for an alleged traffic violation on 150th Road near Q. Road, according to Sheriff Tim Morse. 

The occupants of the vehicle were identified as Brandon Michael Oliver, 39, and Amberle Clare Harrington, 33, both of Topeka.

After a probable cause search of the vehicle, Oliver and Harrington were arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail.&nbsp; Oliver was booked on requested charges of possession of cocaine, possession of THC, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, transporting an open container and driving while suspended. 

Harrington was booked into jail on requested charges of possession of cocaine, possession of THC, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and interference with law enforcement conceal/alter/destroy evidence.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738164693942.png" alt="Oliver-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Oliver-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.Just after 9:30p.m. Jan. 23, a&nbsp;Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2021 Nissan Altima for an alleged traffic violation on 150th Road near Q. Road, according to Sheriff Tim Morse. The occupants of the vehicle were identified as Brandon Michael Oliver, 39, and Amberle Clare Harrington, 33, both of Topeka.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738164726507.png" alt="Harrington-photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Harrington-photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>After a probable cause search of the vehicle, Oliver and Harrington were arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail.&nbsp; Oliver was booked on requested charges of possession of cocaine, possession of THC, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, transporting an open container and driving while suspended. Harrington was booked into jail on requested charges of possession of cocaine, possession of THC, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and interference with law enforcement conceal/alter/destroy evidence.

Sheriff: Kan. woman accused of hiding evidence during traffic stop

NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.S. Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-menendez">Bob Menendez</a>&nbsp;was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt -- crimes his own lawyer said earned him the nickname “Gold Bar Bob.”

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan announced the sentence after Menendez tearfully addressed the judge, saying he’d lost everything he cared about, except for his family.

“You were successful, powerful, you stood at the apex of our political system,” the judge said. ”Somewhere along the way, and I don’t know when it was, you lost your way and working for the public good became working for your good.”

Menendez’s actions, the judge said, feed the cynicism of voters.

“What’s been the result?" he said, noting a lengthy investigation of a five-year crime. "You lost your senate seat. You lost your chairmanship and you lost your good name.”

Prosecutors had requested a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-sentencing-new-jersey-11a90b6e46989ed70e7c389e91e61987">15-year prison term</a>&nbsp;for the Democrat who was convicted of multiple charges including acting as an agent for Egypt for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/menendez-bribery-trial-jury-deliberations-bab89b99a77fc6ce95531c88ab26cc4d">selling his once-considerable clout</a>&nbsp;in Washington for bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Given a chance to speak before he was sentenced, Menendez broke down several times as he described his accomplishments.

“You really don’t know the man you are about to sentence,” Menendez told Stein as he stood before him with his hands in his pockets, except when he wiped his face with a tissue.

“Your honor, I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions,” he added. “I’ve done far more good than bad. I ask you, your honor, to judge me in that context.”

Attorney Adam Fee told Stein to give Menendez credit for a “lifetime of extraordinary public service and personal sacrifices.”

“Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as gold bar Bob,” Fee said.

Menendez's lawyers had said prior to the sentencing that their client deserves less than two years in prison, citing his decades of public service and a life largely well-lived after the son of Cuban immigrants rose from poverty to become “the epitome of the American Dream.”

But Fee said the defense team decided to ask that Menendez get no more than eight years after hearing Stein earlier in the day give substantial prison terms to two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to the senator. Fred Daibes, a real estate developer, got seven years and a $1.75 million fine. Wael Hana, an entrepreneur, got eight years a $1.25 million fine and was ordered to forfeit $125,000.

Prior to the announcement of his sentence, Daibes, 67, tearfully told Stein the jury verdict had left him “borderline suicidal,” and requested leniency so that he could care for his 30-year-old autistic son.

Hana told the judge, “I am an innocent man."

"I never bribed Senator Menendez or asked his office for influence.”

The judge, though, said the jury's verdict was “very, very substantial."

A third businessman pleaded guilty and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-bribery-trial-79f089b759a434314f98cb69cad0c2b5">testified against Menendez</a>&nbsp;at a trial last year.

Menendez&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-new-jersey-senate-resignation-9941e49020a032da3861f5f5cf118ec2">resigned from the Senate</a>&nbsp;after his conviction last year, though he lost much of his power in fall 2023 when the charges against him were revealed and he was forced to surrender his powerful post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The trial traced Menendez’s dealings with Egyptian officials and his quest to aid three men who showered him with lucrative gifts found during a 2022 raid on the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home he shared with his wife, Nadine.

FBI agents who searched the house found $480,000, some of it stuffed inside boots and the pockets of clothing hung in the couple's closets. They also seized gold bars worth an estimated $150,000.

Prosecutors said Menendez had “put his high office up for sale in exchange for this hoard of bribes,” including by serving Egypt’s interests as he worked to protect a meat certification monopoly Hana had established with the Egyptian government.

Among other things, Menendez provided Egyptian officials with information about the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and ghostwrote a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in military aid to Egypt.

Prosecutors said that for other bribes, Menendez attempted to persuade a federal prosecutor in New Jersey to go easy on Daibes, a politically influential real estate developer accused of bank fraud.

And at the trial, another businessman, Jose Uribe, testified that he helped Nadine Menendez get a Mercedes-Benz convertible after the senator sought to pressure state prosecutors to drop criminal probes of his associates.

Menendez has insisted that he is innocent of any crime, saying repeatedly that his interactions with Egyptian officials were normal for the head of the Foreign Relations Committee, and that he always put American interests first. He denied taking any bribes and said the gold bars belonged to his wife.

Nadine Menendez faces trial in March on many of the same charges as her husband after spending the last year battling breast cancer.

Menendez’s lawyers, in a presentence submission, said he had already suffered greatly.

“Unsurprisingly, Senator Menendez’s conviction has rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit,” his lawyers wrote. “Bob is now 71, with his long-built reputation in tatters. He has suffered financial and professional ruin."

In court papers, the lawyers described how Menendez devoted much of his life to his country and his community after he was scarred by the early loss of his father, who killed himself when Menendez was 23 after he was unable to pay off gambling debts.

They described a 50-year history of public service in heroic terms, tracing a career in which Menendez was mayor of Union City, New Jersey, a state lawmaker, a member of the U.S. House and then a senator from 2006 to 2024.

Yet he also had the distinction of being the only U.S. senator indicted twice.

In 2015, he was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-national-national-united-states-congress-united-states-government-a1bc4361120d418984469fcf7a6c2dc1">charged with selling his influence</a>&nbsp;to a wealthy Florida eye doctor and entrepreneur who prosecutors said lavished him with luxury vacations and campaign contributions. But the jury in that case couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. Federal prosecutors dropped the case rather than put him on trial again.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738186653849.png" alt="Menendez outside the courthouse following the sentencing hearing -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Menendez outside the courthouse following the sentencing hearing -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.S. Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-menendez">Bob Menendez</a>&nbsp;was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt -- crimes his own lawyer said earned him the nickname “Gold Bar Bob.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1721150824503.png" alt="One of the gold bars found at Menendez's house during a law enforcement search-photo. US District Court Southern District of New York" />
 <figcaption>One of the gold bars found at Menendez's house during a law enforcement search-photo. US District Court Southern District of New York</figcaption>
 </figure>U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan announced the sentence after Menendez tearfully addressed the judge, saying he’d lost everything he cared about, except for his family.“You were successful, powerful, you stood at the apex of our political system,” the judge said. ”Somewhere along the way, and I don’t know when it was, you lost your way and working for the public good became working for your good.”Menendez’s actions, the judge said, feed the cynicism of voters.“What’s been the result?" he said, noting a lengthy investigation of a five-year crime. "You lost your senate seat. You lost your chairmanship and you lost your good name.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Senator Menendez accomplished many things on behalf of our state, but sadly he will be remembered for putting his own interests and financial gain ahead of the public interest. It is critical that we hold our elected leaders to the highest professional and ethical standards. <a href="https://t.co/wbdv2O6PqH">pic.twitter.com/wbdv2O6PqH</a>&mdash; Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovMurphy/status/1884709710680519139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Prosecutors had requested a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-sentencing-new-jersey-11a90b6e46989ed70e7c389e91e61987">15-year prison term</a>&nbsp;for the Democrat who was convicted of multiple charges including acting as an agent for Egypt for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/menendez-bribery-trial-jury-deliberations-bab89b99a77fc6ce95531c88ab26cc4d">selling his once-considerable clout</a>&nbsp;in Washington for bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.Given a chance to speak before he was sentenced, Menendez broke down several times as he described his accomplishments.“You really don’t know the man you are about to sentence,” Menendez told Stein as he stood before him with his hands in his pockets, except when he wiped his face with a tissue.“Your honor, I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions,” he added. “I’ve done far more good than bad. I ask you, your honor, to judge me in that context.”Attorney Adam Fee told Stein to give Menendez credit for a “lifetime of extraordinary public service and personal sacrifices.”“Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as gold bar Bob,” Fee said.Menendez's lawyers had said prior to the sentencing that their client deserves less than two years in prison, citing his decades of public service and a life largely well-lived after the son of Cuban immigrants rose from poverty to become “the epitome of the American Dream.”But Fee said the defense team decided to ask that Menendez get no more than eight years after hearing Stein earlier in the day give substantial prison terms to two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to the senator. Fred Daibes, a real estate developer, got seven years and a $1.75 million fine. Wael Hana, an entrepreneur, got eight years a $1.25 million fine and was ordered to forfeit $125,000.Prior to the announcement of his sentence, Daibes, 67, tearfully told Stein the jury verdict had left him “borderline suicidal,” and requested leniency so that he could care for his 30-year-old autistic son.Hana told the judge, “I am an innocent man.""I never bribed Senator Menendez or asked his office for influence.”The judge, though, said the jury's verdict was “very, very substantial."A third businessman pleaded guilty and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-bribery-trial-79f089b759a434314f98cb69cad0c2b5">testified against Menendez</a>&nbsp;at a trial last year.Menendez&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-new-jersey-senate-resignation-9941e49020a032da3861f5f5cf118ec2">resigned from the Senate</a>&nbsp;after his conviction last year, though he lost much of his power in fall 2023 when the charges against him were revealed and he was forced to surrender his powerful post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.The trial traced Menendez’s dealings with Egyptian officials and his quest to aid three men who showered him with lucrative gifts found during a 2022 raid on the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home he shared with his wife, Nadine.FBI agents who searched the house found $480,000, some of it stuffed inside boots and the pockets of clothing hung in the couple's closets. They also seized gold bars worth an estimated $150,000.Prosecutors said Menendez had “put his high office up for sale in exchange for this hoard of bribes,” including by serving Egypt’s interests as he worked to protect a meat certification monopoly Hana had established with the Egyptian government.Among other things, Menendez provided Egyptian officials with information about the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and ghostwrote a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in military aid to Egypt.Prosecutors said that for other bribes, Menendez attempted to persuade a federal prosecutor in New Jersey to go easy on Daibes, a politically influential real estate developer accused of bank fraud.And at the trial, another businessman, Jose Uribe, testified that he helped Nadine Menendez get a Mercedes-Benz convertible after the senator sought to pressure state prosecutors to drop criminal probes of his associates.Menendez has insisted that he is innocent of any crime, saying repeatedly that his interactions with Egyptian officials were normal for the head of the Foreign Relations Committee, and that he always put American interests first. He denied taking any bribes and said the gold bars belonged to his wife.Nadine Menendez faces trial in March on many of the same charges as her husband after spending the last year battling breast cancer.Menendez’s lawyers, in a presentence submission, said he had already suffered greatly.“Unsurprisingly, Senator Menendez’s conviction has rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit,” his lawyers wrote. “Bob is now 71, with his long-built reputation in tatters. He has suffered financial and professional ruin."In court papers, the lawyers described how Menendez devoted much of his life to his country and his community after he was scarred by the early loss of his father, who killed himself when Menendez was 23 after he was unable to pay off gambling debts.They described a 50-year history of public service in heroic terms, tracing a career in which Menendez was mayor of Union City, New Jersey, a state lawmaker, a member of the U.S. House and then a senator from 2006 to 2024.Yet he also had the distinction of being the only U.S. senator indicted twice.In 2015, he was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-national-national-united-states-congress-united-states-government-a1bc4361120d418984469fcf7a6c2dc1">charged with selling his influence</a>&nbsp;to a wealthy Florida eye doctor and entrepreneur who prosecutors said lavished him with luxury vacations and campaign contributions. But the jury in that case couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. Federal prosecutors dropped the case rather than put him on trial again.

Prison time for US Senator who took bribes paid in gold 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday signed the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-laken-riley-act-trump-immigration-2667d626139ddf5a16d1533516eab18f">Laken Riley Act</a>&nbsp;into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes. He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The bipartisan act, the first piece of legislation approved during Trump’s second term, was named for Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was slain last year by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally.

“She was a light of warmth and kindness,” Trump said during a ceremony that included Riley’s parents and sister. “It’s a tremendous tribute to your daughter what’s taking place today, that’s all I can say. It’s so sad we have to be doing it.”

Trump has promised to drastically increase deportations, but he also said at the signing that some of the people being sent back to their home countries couldn't be counted on to stay there.

“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send ’em out to Guantanamo,” Trump said. He said that he'd direct federal officials to get facilities in Cuba ready to receive immigrant criminals.

“We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal aliens threatening the American people,” the president said.

The White House announced a short time later that Trump had signed a presidential memorandum on Guantanamo. Migrant rights groups quickly expressed dismay.

“Guantanamo Bay’s abusive history speaks for itself and in no uncertain terms will put people’s physical and mental health in jeopardy,” Stacy Suh, program director of Detention Watch Network, said in a statement.

Trump said the move would double U.S. detention lockup capacities, and Guantanamo is “a tough place to get out of.”

The Guantanamo facility could hold “dangerous criminals” and people who are “hard to deport,” said a Trump administration official speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration would seek funding via spending bills Congress will eventually consider. The administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, said U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement would run the facility in Cuba and that the “the worst of the worst" could go there.

The U.S. military base has been used to house detainees from the U.S. war on terrorism for years. But authorities have also detained migrants at sea at a facility known as the Migrant Operations Center on Guantanamo, a site the U.S. has long leased from the Cuban government. Many of those housed there have been migrants from Haiti and Cuba.

The U.S. has leased Guantanamo land from Cuba for more than a century. Cuba opposes the lease and typically rejects the nominal U.S. rent payments. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Trump wanting to ship immigrants to the island is “an act of brutality.”

“The US government’s decision to imprison migrants at the Guantanamo Naval Base, in an enclave where it created torture and indefinite detention centers, shows contempt for the human condition and international law,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote in a post on X.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that enemy combatants in the war on terror held without charge at the military prison at Guantanamo had the right to challenge their detention in federal court. But the justices did not decide whether the president had the authority to detain people at all.

Before Trump took office, the Democratic administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden worked to reduce the number of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo.

Laken Riley was out for a run in February 2024 when she was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally. Ibarra&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley-immigrant-d8d75ccc6d81e7a88eb7890829d9fc9c">was found guilty in November</a>&nbsp;and sentenced to life without parole.

Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, and released to pursue his case in immigration court. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August 2023 for child endangerment and released. Police say he was also issued a citation for shoplifting in Georgia in October 2023.

The act quickly passed the newly Republican-controlled Congress with some Democratic support even though opponents said it possibly could lead to large roundups of people for offenses as minor as shoplifting.

The swift passage, and Trump’s quickly signing it, adds to the potent symbolism for conservatives. To critics, the measure has taken advantage of a tragedy and could lead to chaos and cruelty while doing little to fight crime or overhaul the immigration system.

Riley’s mother thanked Trump while holding back tears.

“He said he would secure our borders and he would never forget about Laken and he hasn’t,” she said.

Several top Republican lawmakers and Noem attended the signing ceremony, as did Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a cosponsor.

Under the new law, federal officials would have to detain any immigrant arrested or charged with crimes such as theft or assaulting a police officer, or offenses that injure or kill someone. State attorneys general could sue the U.S. government for harm caused by federal immigration decisions — potentially allowing the leaders of conservative states to help dictate immigration policy set by Washington.

Some Democrats have questioned whether it is constitutional. The ALCU says the law can allow people to be “mandatorily locked up — potentially for years — because at some point in their lives, perhaps decades ago, they were accused of nonviolent offenses.”

Hannah Flamm, interim senior director of policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said the measure violates immigrants’ basic rights by allowing for detaining people who have not been charged with wrongdoing, much less convicted.

“The latent fear from the election cycle of looking soft on crime snowballed into aiding and abetting Trump’s total conflation of immigration with crime,” Flamm said.

She also noted, “I think it is pivotal to understand: This bill, framed as connected to a tragic death, is pretext to fortify a mass deportation system."

Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this rep

WASHINGTON (AP) — At the signing of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-laken-riley-act-trump-immigration-2667d626139ddf5a16d1533516eab18f">Laken Riley Act</a>, President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;said Wednesday that he is directing the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 migrants who are living illegally in the United States and cannot be deported to their home countries.

Trump made the announcement just before he signed the immigrant detention measure, the first law of his new administration.

“We’re going to send them out to Guantanamo," the president said in the White House East Room. He did not elaborate.

The U.S. military base has been used to house detainees from the U.S. war on terrorism.

The Laken Riley Act was described by Trump as a “landmark law” and “tremendous tribute” to the slain Georgia nursing student for whom it is named. The law mandates that people in the U.S. illegally who are accused of theft and violent crimes be detained and potentially deported, even before a conviction.

Laken Riley, 22, went out for a run in February 2024 and was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally. Ibarra&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley-immigrant-d8d75ccc6d81e7a88eb7890829d9fc9c">was found guilty in November</a>&nbsp;and sentenced to life without parole.

“She was a light of warmth and kindness,” Trump said during a signing ceremony that included Riley's parents and sister. “It’s a tremendous tribute to your daughter what’s taking place today, that’s all I can say. It’s so sad we have to be doing it.”

He added, “It’s a landmark law that we’re doing today. It’s going to save countless lives”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738075679736.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday signed the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-laken-riley-act-trump-immigration-2667d626139ddf5a16d1533516eab18f">Laken Riley Act</a>&nbsp;into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes. He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Today I&#39;m also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000 person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay. Most people don&#39;t even know about it.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/su3eu24J1Z">pic.twitter.com/su3eu24J1Z</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1884690347474727404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The bipartisan act, the first piece of legislation approved during Trump’s second term, was named for Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was slain last year by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Trump signs Laken Riley Act <a href="https://t.co/8DEIJdzZN5">pic.twitter.com/8DEIJdzZN5</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1884692201273163874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“She was a light of warmth and kindness,” Trump said during a ceremony that included Riley’s parents and sister. “It’s a tremendous tribute to your daughter what’s taking place today, that’s all I can say. It’s so sad we have to be doing it.”Trump has promised to drastically increase deportations, but he also said at the signing that some of the people being sent back to their home countries couldn't be counted on to stay there.“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send ’em out to Guantanamo,” Trump said. He said that he'd direct federal officials to get facilities in Cuba ready to receive immigrant criminals.“We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal aliens threatening the American people,” the president said.The White House announced a short time later that Trump had signed a presidential memorandum on Guantanamo. Migrant rights groups quickly expressed dismay.“Guantanamo Bay’s abusive history speaks for itself and in no uncertain terms will put people’s physical and mental health in jeopardy,” Stacy Suh, program director of Detention Watch Network, said in a statement.Trump said the move would double U.S. detention lockup capacities, and Guantanamo is “a tough place to get out of.”The Guantanamo facility could hold “dangerous criminals” and people who are “hard to deport,” said a Trump administration official speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration would seek funding via spending bills Congress will eventually consider. The administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, said U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement would run the facility in Cuba and that the “the worst of the worst" could go there.The U.S. military base has been used to house detainees from the U.S. war on terrorism for years. But authorities have also detained migrants at sea at a facility known as the Migrant Operations Center on Guantanamo, a site the U.S. has long leased from the Cuban government. Many of those housed there have been migrants from Haiti and Cuba.The U.S. has leased Guantanamo land from Cuba for more than a century. Cuba opposes the lease and typically rejects the nominal U.S. rent payments. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Trump wanting to ship immigrants to the island is “an act of brutality.”“The US government’s decision to imprison migrants at the Guantanamo Naval Base, in an enclave where it created torture and indefinite detention centers, shows contempt for the human condition and international law,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote in a post on X.The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that enemy combatants in the war on terror held without charge at the military prison at Guantanamo had the right to challenge their detention in federal court. But the justices did not decide whether the president had the authority to detain people at all.Before Trump took office, the Democratic administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden worked to reduce the number of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo.Laken Riley was out for a run in February 2024 when she was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally. Ibarra&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley-immigrant-d8d75ccc6d81e7a88eb7890829d9fc9c">was found guilty in November</a>&nbsp;and sentenced to life without parole.Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, and released to pursue his case in immigration court. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August 2023 for child endangerment and released. Police say he was also issued a citation for shoplifting in Georgia in October 2023.The act quickly passed the newly Republican-controlled Congress with some Democratic support even though opponents said it possibly could lead to large roundups of people for offenses as minor as shoplifting.The swift passage, and Trump’s quickly signing it, adds to the potent symbolism for conservatives. To critics, the measure has taken advantage of a tragedy and could lead to chaos and cruelty while doing little to fight crime or overhaul the immigration system.Riley’s mother thanked Trump while holding back tears.“He said he would secure our borders and he would never forget about Laken and he hasn’t,” she said.Several top Republican lawmakers and Noem attended the signing ceremony, as did Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a cosponsor.Under the new law, federal officials would have to detain any immigrant arrested or charged with crimes such as theft or assaulting a police officer, or offenses that injure or kill someone. State attorneys general could sue the U.S. government for harm caused by federal immigration decisions — potentially allowing the leaders of conservative states to help dictate immigration policy set by Washington.Some Democrats have questioned whether it is constitutional. The ALCU says the law can allow people to be “mandatorily locked up — potentially for years — because at some point in their lives, perhaps decades ago, they were accused of nonviolent offenses.”Hannah Flamm, interim senior director of policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said the measure violates immigrants’ basic rights by allowing for detaining people who have not been charged with wrongdoing, much less convicted.“The latent fear from the election cycle of looking soft on crime snowballed into aiding and abetting Trump’s total conflation of immigration with crime,” Flamm said.She also noted, “I think it is pivotal to understand: This bill, framed as connected to a tragic death, is pretext to fortify a mass deportation system."___Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this repWASHINGTON (AP) — At the signing of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-laken-riley-act-trump-immigration-2667d626139ddf5a16d1533516eab18f">Laken Riley Act</a>, President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;said Wednesday that he is directing the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 migrants who are living illegally in the United States and cannot be deported to their home countries.Trump made the announcement just before he signed the immigrant detention measure, the first law of his new administration.“We’re going to send them out to Guantanamo," the president said in the White House East Room. He did not elaborate.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sec_Noem</a> and Acting ICE Director Tom Homan speak to reporters at the White House about Migrant Facility at Guantanamo Bay. <a href="https://t.co/Z3Vjk9U06x">pic.twitter.com/Z3Vjk9U06x</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1884713500091539629?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The U.S. military base has been used to house detainees from the U.S. war on terrorism.The Laken Riley Act was described by Trump as a “landmark law” and “tremendous tribute” to the slain Georgia nursing student for whom it is named. The law mandates that people in the U.S. illegally who are accused of theft and violent crimes be detained and potentially deported, even before a conviction.Laken Riley, 22, went out for a run in February 2024 and was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally. Ibarra&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley-immigrant-d8d75ccc6d81e7a88eb7890829d9fc9c">was found guilty in November</a>&nbsp;and sentenced to life without parole.“She was a light of warmth and kindness,” Trump said during a signing ceremony that included Riley's parents and sister. “It’s a tremendous tribute to your daughter what’s taking place today, that’s all I can say. It’s so sad we have to be doing it.”He added, “It’s a landmark law that we’re doing today. It’s going to save countless lives”