IN A TERRIFYING MONTH, RECOVERING THE DEAD HAS BECOME AN AMERICAN PANIC
We’ve seen a madman in New Orleans, flames in southern California, and a jet and Black Hawk military helicopter collide above Washington — and what possibly will happen next in a country of doom?
It was the month that wasn’t, a time of political malpractice and American agony. It was January 2025, weeks that saw a terrorist kill Bourbon Street revelers and wildfires take down Los Angeles. Hell stormed back on Wednesday night, when an Army helicopter with three soldiers collided with an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members.
A madman, flames and aviation chaos above the nation’s capital. Everyone is dead in wreckage along the Potomac River. All three horrors could have been prevented.
February begins Saturday.
What possibly happens next? Are you worried about going outside? About partying in a booze town and buying a home in the Pacific Palisades woodlands? About taking a flight after the deadliest U.S. air crash in more than 23 years? President Trump, with a new Secretary of Transportation and a new Defense Secretary, took to his Truth Social site to record his own commentary. He will be attacked, but first, he blamed the Black Hawk military helicopter and air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time,” Trump wrote. “It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
Trump was referring to a controller who asked the helicopter about the arriving jet — only 30 seconds before the collision. Finally, the controller made another call that said: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” It was too late.
Was the crash preventable? “Absolutely,” said Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary. “We will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public.”
Recovering the dead has become a weekly national panic. The sites are well-known — the French Quarter, above the California ocean, an intensely controlled space near the Pentagon and the White House — and we wonder if any setting is safe. Among those lost were members of the figure skating community, who were flying to Washington from a national championship event and developmental camp in Wichita, Kan. U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that “several members of our community” were on the flight. Two coaches were Russian.
“We are deeply shocked by the tragic accident,” the International Skating Union said. “We are heartbroken to learn that figure skaters, along with their families, friends, and coaches, are understood to be among those on board. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport — it's a close-knit family — and we stand together.”
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” U.S. Figure Skating said.
I live five miles south of Pacific Palisades. Each day, I see lost souls staying in Santa Monica and Marina del Rey with purchased or free clothing. They’ll need years of help. Our friends from the Palisades, their homes burned to ashes, are staying on couches in other cities. Thinking about travel to southern California? “We’re very nervous,” said Jackie Filla, president of a local hotel association. The World Cup, Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics? Los Angeles doesn’t have enough time or energy to do anything but pawn off the events.
Next week, New Orleans hosts the Super Bowl. A month hasn’t passed since the attack that killed 14 people. “I think the most important thing is, very clear and unequivocal, saying without hesitation that we are really confident in our security plan going into the Super Bowl,” NFL chief security officer Cathy Lanier said. “I think the biggest thing that you’ll see that’s different following the attacks is just a lot more visible law enforcement presence. I feel very confident that we’re going to the Super Bowl in an environment that people are going to feel comfortable, they’re going to feel safe, and they’re going to enjoy it.”
She is paid to calm nerves. I’ve been around the world and dealt with extreme security measures protecting the Olympics, major American sports and events after 9/11. Finally, I am freaked out about life this month.
I am not alone.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.