An American Airlines flight carrying 60 passengers and four crew members crashed with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington on Wednesday, triggering a massive search and rescue effort in the adjacent Potomac River. According to a person acquainted with the situation, numerous people died, although the exact number of dead was unknown while rescue personnel searched for survivors.
The chopper carried three soldiers, according to an Army officer.
There was no early news on the reason of the incident, but all takeoffs and landings at the airport were suspended while dive teams investigated the area and helicopters from law enforcement organizations around the region hovered over the scene in a meticulous search for corpses.
Images from the river showed boats circling the partially submerged wing and the crumpled remains of the plane’s fuselage.
“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a solemn news conference at the airport, declining to reveal how many remains had been retrieved.
The individual who informed The Associated Press that there had been several deaths was not allowed to publicly disclose the investigation’s findings and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas stated, “When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow.”
President Donald Trump stated that he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and wished the passengers “May God Bless their souls.”
The aircraft carried a group of figure skaters, coaches, and family members returning from a development camp held after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and keep the victims’ families close to our hearts,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the airborne incident happened about 9 p.m. EST when a regional aircraft departing from Wichita, Kansas collided with a military helicopter on a training mission as it approached an airport runway. It happened in among of the world’s most heavily restricted and monitored airspace, not more than three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.
Investigators will attempt to put together the aircraft’s final minutes prior to collision, including interaction with air traffic controllers and a loss of altitude by the passenger plane.
According to data from its radio transponder, American Airlines Flight 5342 was approaching Reagan National at a height of around 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it experienced a sudden loss of altitude over the Potomac River. The Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine aircraft, produced in 2004, can accommodate up to 70 people.
A few minutes before landing, air traffic authorities asked the inbound commercial jet if it could land on Reagan National’s shorter Runway 33, to which the pilots answered yes. Controllers then authorized the aircraft to land on Runway 33. Flight monitoring sites indicated that the airliner adjusted its approach to the new runway.
Less than 30 seconds before the tragedy, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it could see the arriving airliner. The controller sent another radio communication to the helicopter shortly later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds later, the two planes collided.
The plane’s radio transponder ceased broadcasting around 2,400 feet from the runway, about over the middle of the river.
An observation camera at the neighboring Kennedy Center captured video of two sets of lights, indicating that planes were forming a fireball together.
“I recognize that flight. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas added, “I’ve flown it several times myself.” He predicted that many Wichitans would know persons on the trip.
“This is a very personal circumstance,” he told me.
The crash occurred on a bright winter evening in Washington, with temperatures reaching 60 degrees Fahrenheit after days of extreme cold and ice. The temperature of the Potomac River on Wednesday was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service warned that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were likely in the area all evening.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed “deep sorrow” over the tragedy and stated that the business was prioritizing the needs of passengers, crew, first responders, and the families and loved ones of those impacted.
Approximately 300 first responders were on the site. Inflatable rescue boats were thrown into the Potomac River from a location on the George Washington Parkway just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the beach to illuminate the area around the crash scene. At least half a dozen boats were scouring the water with searchlights.
“It’s a highly complex operation,” D.C. fire chief John Donnelly stated. “The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.”
The helicopter was reported by the US Army as a UH-60 Blackhawk situated at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was doing a training flight. Military aircraft routinely fly training missions in and around the crowded and extremely restricted airspace surrounding the nation’s capital to familiarize themselves with and ensure the continuity of government plans.
The accident is a key test for two of the Trump administration’s new agency heads. Pete Hegseth, who was sworn in as defense secretary a few days ago, said on social media that the Army and Defense Department had initiated a “immediate” inquiry. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was sworn in earlier this week, said during a solemn press conference at the airport early Thursday that his department will devote all available resources to the probe.
The latest significant fatal crash involving a commercial aircraft in the United States occurred in 2009, in Buffalo, New York. Everyone on the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, two pilots, and two flight attendants. Another individual on the ground perished, increasing the overall death toll to 50. According to the findings of the inquiry, the captain mistakenly caused the jet to stall as it approached Buffalo International Airport.
Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration stated. The FAA had earlier stated that it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.
Located on the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice since it is considerably closer than the bigger Dulles International Airport, which is located deeper in Virginia.
Depending on the runway utilized, flights into Reagan can provide passengers with stunning views of monuments such as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, and the United States Capitol. It’s a postcard-perfect greeting for tourists visiting the city.
The event recalled an Air Florida aircraft that crashed into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, killing 78 people. That crash was blamed on unfavorable weather.