Why are investigators focused on night-vision goggles in the deadly midair crash in Washington?

With the Capitol Building in the background, a crane lifts part of the fuselage from the wreckage of an American Airlines plane that crashed last week after a collision with a Black Hawk helicopter on the Potomac River in Arlington, Va., Feb 3, 2025. — ©2025 The New York Times Company

As divers and salvage crews begin pulling parts and pieces of an American Airlines regional commuter jet and an Army helicopter from the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport after the crash last week, investigators will start looking for clues as to how the disaster, which claimed 67 lives, happened.

One of the open questions is whether or not the military aircrew flying the UH-60 Black Hawk was wearing night-vision goggles at the time of the collision.