Trump Gives Plane–Helicopter Crash Update—5 Takeaways; Kash Patel’s Senate Hearing for FBI Director

Focus Turns to Helicopter’s Altitude After Deadly CollisionOfficials and aviation experts are zeroing in on the flight altitude of the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport on the night of Jan. 29. All 64 people aboard the jet, along with the three military officers in the helicopter, perished, making it the deadliest U.S. plane crash in more than two decades.

Based on flight data that has yet to be independently verified, the helicopter was operating at roughly 300 feet above the ground when it collided with the jet. Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation, said that the Black Hawk’s maximum altitude for flying the corridor near Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Potomac River is 200 feet above the ground.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said elevation played a role in the incident. “There was some sort of an elevation issue that we have immediately begun investigating at the [Department of Defense] and army level,” Hegseth said. The president said the “helicopter obviously was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” (More)

5 Takeaways From Kash Patel’s Confirmation Hearing for FBI DirectorMembers of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Kash Patel in the first formal hearing on his nomination for director of the FBI. The cordial back-and-forths with Republicans and tense exchanges with the Democrats shed light on some of the controversies surrounding the nomination.

Democrats suggested that Patel could target opponents of the Trump administration, particularly those who were in conflict with the president during his first term. Yet the nominee stated that he did not intend to take such steps, including against former FBI Director Christopher Wray.

In exchanges with Republican lawmakers, the nominee stressed his commitment to fighting the weaponization of the FBI and other elements of law enforcement. “There should be no politics in the FBI. Having been the victim of weaponization of law enforcement against me, I know what that feels like,” Patel told Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) (More)

OpenAI Says China’s DeepSeek May Have ‘Inappropriately’ Used Its DataChatGPT creator OpenAI said on Jan. 29 that Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek might have “inappropriately” used its data.

“We know that groups in the PRC are actively working to use methods, including what’s known as distillation, to try to replicate advanced U.S. AI models,” an OpenAI spokesperson told The Epoch Times, using the acronym for the Chinese regime’s official name, the People’s Republic of China. “We are aware of and reviewing indications that DeepSeek may have inappropriately distilled our models, and will share information as we know more.”

Distillation is an AI technique in which a developer trains an AI model by siphoning data from a larger one. OpenAI, in its terms of service, states that it does not allow anyone to take data from its system to build competing products. David Sacks, the White House AI czar, suggested DeepSeek has done just that. (More)

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