Prior to Wednesday’s aerial collision with American Airlines flight 5342, the US Army helicopter had been preparing for a capital attack.

Just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, the three troops, who all died, were practicing a plan that includes the evacuation of the White House when their Black Hawk crashed into the passenger flight, according to officials.

After internet sleuths offered a suggestion that the training exercise was doing precisely what sources claimed, defense sources verified the drill’s nature to CBS News.

Social media was inundated with theories that the helicopter was executing the president’s emergency evacuation route as part of a contingency plan for the continuity of government.

In the United States, a set of policies and procedures known as a Continuity of Government mission (COG) is intended to guarantee that vital government operations continue both during and after a catastrophic event, such as a terrorist attack, natural disaster, cyberattack, or nuclear attack.

Protecting infrastructure and important persons is one of the five main components of a COG mission.

Staff Sergeant Ryan O’Hara, the crew chief, and Andrew Eaves, the pilot in command of Chief Warrant Office 2, were identified as being on board the helicopter on Friday.

The Army has refused to identify the third person on board, a female co-pilot, at the family’s request, therefore they have remained anonymous.

Withholding her name is quite unusual because military soldiers died in accidents or conflict are often made public 24 hours after their families are informed.

“At the request of the family, the name of the third soldier will not be released at this time,” the US Army said.

The bodies of O’Hara and the co-pilot have been found, while Eaves and a number of other airline passengers remain under the ocean. Although it is quite unusual, relatives have the right to do this; the New York Times called the choice to withhold the name a “extraordinary step.”

It’s unknown why the US Army agreed to the co-pilot’s family’s request to have her name hidden.

Her’very experienced’ coworkers had over 1,000 hours of flying experience, whereas she had roughly 500, which is regarded as a ‘regular’ number.

Jo Ellis, a transgender woman, was mistakenly identified as the woman aboard the deadly Black Hawk earlier on Friday.

During an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, she refuted the assertion.

The cause of Wednesday night’s crash with an American Eagle plane carrying sixty-four people is still being investigated.

Dashcams of automobiles traveling on highways close to the airport showed a massive fireball formed by the collision of the two aircraft before it fell into the river.

On Friday, the helicopter’s black box recorder—which houses the flight data receiver and the cockpit voice recorder—was discovered amid the debris.

Both of the black boxes from the American Airlines flight were successfully recovered by salvage crews on Thursday evening.

All 64 people on board the jet and three in the chopper perished when both planes crashed into the Potomac River below.

Despite serving a notoriously congested airspace, Ronald Reagan National Airport, where the American Eagle plane was landing, is also plagued by air traffic controller shortages.

It was revealed on Thursday night that one of the airport’s controllers had been permitted to leave for home on the night of the tragedy, which left their colleague with a significantly heavier duty.

Although he has not provided further details, President Trump has also implied that the tragedy may have been caused by diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) policies.