On Wednesday night, a US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines flight 5342, causing the deaths of three troops aboard the helicopter and 64 passengers on the plane. The helicopter was conducting a training exercise for a continuity of government (COG) mission, which includes evacuating critical sites like the White House in the event of a catastrophe. The troops were practicing the evacuation plan when the crash occurred near Washington, D.C. The identities of the two crew members, Staff Sergeant Ryan O’Hara and pilot Andrew Eaves, were revealed, but the name of a third soldier, a female co-pilot, was withheld at her family’s request. Social media speculated that the exercise involved the president’s emergency evacuation plan. The cause of the crash is under investigation, and both planes’ black boxes were recovered. The crash occurred in a congested airspace with air traffic controller shortages at Ronald Reagan National Airport.