The doomed Black Hawk chopper had been rehearsing Trump’s evacuation route to a nuclear bunker before its deadly crash, online sleuths have claimed.

American Airlines Flight 5342 was approaching Washington’s Reagan National Airport at around 9pm on Wednesday when the military chopper and plane collided in mid-air, before falling into the Potomac River, killing 67 people.

The plane held four crew members and 60 passengers, while the helicopter was carrying three soldiers during a night training exercise ‘on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission’, Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defence secretary, said. 

‘The military does dangerous things. It does routine things on a regular basis. Tragically, last night, a mistake was made.’ 

Conspiracy theorists have rushed to social media to place uncorroborated blame on the US government, suggesting the collision must have been intentional because ‘military helicopters don’t fly into planes’.

But now, several online sleuths have revealed their theories on the helicopter carrying out an emergency evacuation route for the president as part of a Continuity of Government contingency.

A Continuity of Government mission (COG) in the US refers to a set of policies and procedures designed to ensure that essential government functions continue during and after a catastrophic event, such as a nuclear attack, natural disaster, cyberattack, or terrorist incident.

One of the five key aspects of a COG mission is protecting key personnel and infrastructure.

The deadly collision of a Black Hawk and passenger jet in Washington DC shocked the nation Wednesday, sparking an investigation into what caused the mid-air crash

The deadly collision of a Black Hawk and passenger jet in Washington DC shocked the nation Wednesday, sparking an investigation into what caused the mid-air crash

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people  

This has led a number of social media users to speculate that the chopper had been carrying out an evacuation and relocation training exercise which in a real-life situation would take a leader to a secure location such as a classified bunker.

‘CIA has a long history of plotting and executing air disasters. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to find a Black Hawk on a vaguely defined CoG mission striking an airliner sus as hell.’ one baffled X/Twitter user said.

‘What the hell were they doing in the tower? Why was a damn black hawk helicopter flying a COG training mission in civilian airspace on a Wednesday?,’ a second asked.

‘If the Black Hawk indeed was on a COG mission, was there a weapon hidden on the plane that needed to be neutralized before it landed? The good of the many outweighing the good of the few…..,’ a third commented.

One more chimed in: ‘Continuity of government exercise can describe the large scale nuclear training. In other words training for what to do if it happened. Like designated survivor stuff’.

Another warned: ‘They’ve been doing training for a nuke too’. 

This isn’t about DEI. You should be asking why a Black hawk is doing COG exercises at one of the busiest airport in the air’.

It comes amid a huge swell of conspiracy theories around the incident, with some alleging the helicopter appeared to ‘chase’ the Bombadier plane as it approached for landing, comparing the scene to a ‘1970s-style assassination’.

Others have demanded to ‘know who was on that passenger plane’, suggesting that the incident was a ‘targeted hit’.

Conspiracy theorists have branded the horrific crash as ‘suspicious’, alleging that trained pilots would know how to navigate this type of situation.

The two aircraft had collided in a huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars driving on highways near the airport before it plunged into the river

The two aircraft had collided in a huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars driving on highways near the airport before it plunged into the river

‘This plane crash is so strange… something is off,’ one X user shared. ‘A Blackhawk not having alarms going, 3 soldiers not seeing a effin commercial plane?

‘A army pilot who doesn’t understand how to navigate close to an airport? Even if training? Yeah this smells bad.’

‘This looks deliberate to me,’ one Instagram user commented on a video of the collision. ‘Watch this clip, especially the slow motion part, the plane is coming in to land and the helicopter comes in from the left and flies straight into it.’

Dozens of social media users have called for more details about those on board the aircraft, baselessly claiming there was ‘larger agenda at play’.

‘We need to know who was on these planes because it looks like that Blackhawk flew directly into it,’ one X user wrote.

‘Bottom line: this doesn’t feel random,’ replied another. ‘The real question is whether it was a botched op, a targeted hit, or a larger agenda at play.

‘My bet? Something was in that Black Hawk, or someone was on that plane, and this wasn’t supposed to be public.’

The Bombadier plane operated by an American Airlines subsidiary was approaching Reagan National Airport at around 9pm after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.

Emergency response teams are seen at the scene of the crash in the Potomac River

Emergency response teams are seen at the scene of the crash in the Potomac River

A fireball then erupted in the night sky as the aircraft collided, before both the plane and helicopter tumbled into the icy Potomac River

A fireball then erupted in the night sky as the aircraft collided, before both the plane and helicopter tumbled into the icy Potomac River

Authorities have not yet pinpointed a reason for the collision, but have said it could have been ‘prevented’, as many question how the two aircraft did not see each other on the clear night.

Insiders and a preliminary internal Federal Aviation Authority report have started to reveal catastrophic failures leading up to the aviation disaster.

The two aircraft had collided in a huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

On Thursday morning officials confirmed all 67 on both the plane and helicopter had perished, with their rescue mission then becoming a recovery operation.

Investigators on Thursday recovered the black boxes from the CRJ700 airplane, which carried 60 passengers and four crew members, as rescuers pulled bodies from the freezing water.

Divers aim to ‘salvage the aircraft’ and find additional components today.

There were no survivors after the two aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster since 2001.

Over 40 bodies had been pulled from the icy waters of the river as of Thursday evening as recovery operations continue.

Investigators plan to push forward today with efforts to retrieve both the passenger plane and helicopter from the river.

Rescue teams search the wreckage of a commercial airplane that collided with a military helicopter in Washington

Rescue teams search the wreckage of a commercial airplane that collided with a military helicopter in Washington

A flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were pulled from the river by salvage teams. 

This will be of monumental assistance to authorities as they investigate what exactly happened in the moments leading to disaster.

The identities of those who died in the collision have started to trickle out, with DailyMail.com revealing the identities of the pilot and first officer.

Among the crash victims were people from Russia, China, Germany and the Philippines, including young figure skaters.

Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, and First Officer Samuel Lilley had been in charge of the flight from Wichita, Kansas, to the capital.

Both flight attendants who were on that tragic flight have been revealed as Ian Epstein and Danasia Elder.

At least three minors – including figure skaters Spencer Lane, 16, and Jinna Han – are among the victims who died.

Famed Russian skating couple Evgenia Shishkova, 53, and Vadim Naumov, 56, alongside Lane and Han’s mothers also tragically lost their lives in the crash.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves was aboard the Black Hawk helicopter alongside fellow soldier Ryan O’Hara.

The military said the maximum altitude for the route the helicopter was taking is 200 feet but it may have been flying higher. The collision occurred at an altitude of around 300 feet, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the pilot of the American Eagle Flight 5342 had about six years of flying experience. The Bombardier jet was operated by PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the helicopter was flown by a ‘fairly experienced crew’ of three soldiers who were wearing night-vision goggles on an annual training flight.

Officials said they were grounding other flights from the Army unit involved in the crash and would reevaluate training exercises in the region.

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