Barack Obama was not on military helicopter that collided with American Airlines jet near DC

President Donald Trump said there were no survivors among the passengers and crew members on an American Airlines jet and a U.S. military helicopter that collided midair Jan. 29. After the crash, some social media users falsely claimed a former president was aboard the helicopter.

“Breaking: Rumors are circulating that the VIP on the Black Hawk helicopter that crashed was Barack Obama,” a Jan. 30 X post said. The post was viewed more than a million times and taken down hours after it had been posted. 

Laura Loomer, a conservative activist who appeared alongside Trump on the 2024 campaign trail, also claimed a “VIP” was aboard the helicopter. “Who was the ‘VIP’ traveling on the military chopper that was designated for ‘VIPs?’,” Loomer wrote Jan. 30 on X.

This is wrong. The helicopter was not designated for VIPs. It was an annual training flight carrying three soldiers from the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. The American Airlines jet carried 64 people.

The two aircrafts collided around 9 p.m while approaching the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C. 

Former President Barack Obama reacted to the crash publicly. “Our hearts break for the families who lost loved ones in the tragic plane and helicopter crash at DCA,” he wrote Jan. 30 on X.

As of Jan. 30 morning, 27 bodies had been recovered from the American Airlines plane and one from the helicopter, District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly, said.

We rate the claim Obama was a VIP on the helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet False.