By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Army on Friday released the names of two of the soldiers killed when the military Black Hawk in which they were flying collided with a passenger jet, but said, in an unusual decision, that they were not releasing the third name at the request of the family.
The Army identified two of the soldiers killed in Wednesday’s crash in Washington as Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, but did not provide details about the third.
Reuters had reported on Thursday, citing an Army official, that the crew of the Black Hawk involved in the deadly crash with an American Airlines regional passenger jet included two male soldiers and one female soldier.
“At the request of the family, the name of the third Soldier will not be released at this time,” an Army statement said.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said earlier on Friday that “when we have updates on the exact individuals who were involved in the collision, including the air traffic controller, also the pilots of the helicopter and others, we will confirm those.”
Trump has suggested, without evidence, that the deadly midair collision was the result of the Federal Aviation Administration’s efforts to hire a more diverse workforce.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, while at the White House speaking about the crash on Thursday, also took aim at diversity, equity and inclusion in the military and government.
It is standard procedure for the Pentagon to release names of troops killed 24 hours after family members are notified. That included during U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
There have already been conspiracy theories circulating online about the identity of the soldiers. Viral posts falsely identified Jo Ellis, a transgender pilot with the Virginia National Guard, as one of the crew members of the helicopter.
“There were no Virginia National Guard personnel on board the Black Hawk that collided with the jetliner Wednesday evening,” a Virginia National Guard spokesperson told Reuters.
The helicopter was from the 12th Aviation Battalion, which is based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
The unit is responsible for helicopter flights in the U.S. capital area and can be used to carry senior U.S. government officials.
Trump said on Friday the Army Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high at the time of the accident, in what appeared to be a major disclosure about the investigation.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
