An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided midair with a US Army helicopter just outside Washington DC, at around 9PM Wednesday evening. Shortly after the crash, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall said that all 67 people on board both aircraft were feared dead. As of Thursday morning, the BBC reports that 19 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River, where both aircraft fell.
The plane, American Eagle flight 5342, had taken off from Wichita, Kansas, and was attempting to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport. Air traffic at the airport was immediately suspended as helicopters from law enforcement agencies conducted searches for survivors.
The collision occurred in highly monitored airspace, just three miles from the White House and Capitol. Investigators are currently examining flight data and the aircrafts’ communications with air traffic controllers to determine the cause of the crash.
“You can’t get into the Washington DC area airspace unless you are totally under air traffic control,” Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the US Transportation Department, told CNN. “Anybody operating in that had to coordinate with air traffic control. And we know that happened because air traffic control talked to the helicopter.”
Data from the jet’s radio transponder showed that it was descending at about 400 feet and traveling at 140mph when it abruptly lost altitude over the Potomac River. Just before the collision, air traffic controllers asked the jet’s pilots if they could land on a shorter runway, which they agreed to. Controllers then cleared the landing on that runway. Moments later, the helicopter was instructed to pass behind the jet, and the collision occurred seconds after.
A military official told NBC that the Black Hawk helicopter had been on a training mission, saying, “We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir during a training flight.” They added that they would provide more details once they become available.
A number of passengers onboard the American Airlines plane were figure skaters, coaches and their family members, who had been at a development camp in Wichita. US Figure Skating, the sport’s national governing body, released a statement saying, “We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”
Russian state media has separately reported that figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov – a married couple who won the 1994 World Championships in pairs figure skating – were part of this group.
Speaking at a news conference, Washington DC Fire Chief John A. Donnelly Sr. described the operation as “highly complex,” saying, “The conditions out there are extremely rough for the first responders. It’s cold, and they’re dealing with strong winds — the wind is brutal out on the river.” He added that recovery efforts will likely take a number of days. “If you can imagine, the river is a large black spot at night with no lights on it, except for a few buoy lights,” he said.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that “every available” resource has been deployed to assist in rescue efforts.
President Donald Trump has issued a statement saying he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident,” and extended condolences to the passengers, saying, “May God Bless their souls.” He later posted on social media that the tragedy “should have been prevented.”
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