A collision on Wednesday between an American Airlines jet and a US military helicopter near Washington DC killed all 67 people onboard both aircraft and sparked questions over whether understaffing in an air traffic control tower played a role in the United States’ worst aviation disaster in years.
As it approached Reagan National airport around 9pm, American Eagle flight 5342 collided with a US army Black Hawk helicopter, plunging wreckage of the two aircraft into the icy Potomac River and killing all 64 passengers and crew on the plane, along with three soldiers on the helicopter.
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members onboard collided with an army helicopter carrying three soldiers while landing at Reagan National airport in Washington DC on Wednesday evening.
Rescuers are scouring the Potomac River in Washington DC after an American Airlines jet carrying 64 people – 60 passengers and four crew members – collided with a US army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers onboard while attempting to land at Reagan national airport.
All takeoffs and landings from the airport near the capital were halted as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors. According to media reports, rescuers have recovered more than 30 bodies from the river so far, while divers have found one of the plane’s two data recorders, known as black boxes.
No survivors are expected after a regional passenger jet with 64 people onboard collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River while approaching Ronald Reagan National airport on Wednesday night, officials have said.
27 bodies have been recovered from the plane and one from the helicopter by first responders working in what DC fire and EMS chief John A Donnelly called “extremely frigid conditions”. Donnelly said he is confident they will ultimately be able to recover all of the bodies from the crash.
The American Airlines flight, operated by PSA Airlines asAmerican Eagle Flight 5342,had flown from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter that was on a training flight.
The helicopter was believed to be carrying three soldiers, with no senior army officials onboard. The Black Hawk helicopter involved in the crash was based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The US figure skating governing body said that athletes, coaches, and family members were on the crashed plane. They were returning home from the national development camp held in conjunction with the US figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas.
The Kremlin has also confirmed that the figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were onboard. The pair, who were married, won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and lived in the US.
Temperatures in the area were below freezing, and any length of time spent in the water would be extremely dangerous for anyone who survived the initial incident, with hypothermia setting in quickly.
Inflatable boats and dive teams searched the site, with helicopters circling above, and large floodlights illuminating the scene from the shore. The operations were made more difficult by strong gusts of wind as well as the cold.
The Washington DC fire and emergency medical services chief, John Donnelly, said: “The challenges are access … there is wind, there [are] pieces of ice out there, so it’s just dangerous and hard to work in.”
The helicopter was on a training exercise in some of the most tightly controlled airspace in the world. The weather in DC was clear. There was no immediate indication of any deliberate or terrorist cause.
The Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, said on Thursday that there was not a breakdown in communication between the plane, the military helicopter, and air traffic control. “Everything was standard in the lead-up to the crash,” he said, adding that military helicopters use those flight paths every single day.
The airportwill reopen at 11am ET, officials said.
Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the “terrible accident” and praised the “incredible work” done by emergency services. He later said on social media that the crash “should have been prevented”.
Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as Trump’s defence secretary, posted on social media that an investigation had been launched by the army and the defence department
Ari Schulman, a witness who was driving home when the incident happened, described a “stream of sparks” overhead. “Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land,” he told CNN. “Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right … I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it. It looked like a Roman candle.”
American Airlines has set up a phone line for relatives who believe they may have lost ones one onboard.
An American Airlines passenger jet collided with a military helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan national airport near Washington DC. Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to conjoin in a fireball. The American Airlines Flight 5342 departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the FAA. According to American Airlines’ website, the jet has a capacity for up to 65 passengers
Multiple media including the New York Times, Reuters and CNN are saying the Black Hawk helicopter was carrying three soldiers. No senior army officials were onboard, they reported, citing US defence officials.
Multiple sources are now saying that about 60 people were onboard the American Airlines plane that collided with the helicopter.
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