A regional
passenger plane carrying 60 passengers and for crew collided midair with a US
military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on
Wednesday night, prompting the suspension of all flights from the airport and a
large-scale emergency response.
The Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that a Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft
operated by PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, flying in from
Kansas, was approaching Reagan National when it collided with a Sikorsky H-60
Black Hawk helicopter around 9pm local time.
The US Army
helicopter had a crew of three and was not carrying any VIPs, a US defense
official has told CNN. The number of fatalities remains unclear, as emergency
personnel from multiple agencies continue the search for possible survivors.
“We are
deploying every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts
in this horrific incident at DCA,” newly-appointed Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem said.
White House
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that President Donald Trump has
been briefed on the incident.
“Tragically, it
appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet at DCA Airport
right here in Washington, DC,” Leavitt told Fox News. She added that
the Trump administration’s “thoughts and prayers” were with those
involved and urged the public to follow law enforcement guidance.
“There are no
words that can make telling this story any easier,” US Senator
Roger Marshall of Kansas said in a statement on X. “My prayer is that God
wraps his arms around each and every victim and that he continues to be with
their families.”
DC Fire and EMS
previously said that fireboats and other emergency personnel were responding
after a “small aircraft” had gone down in the Potomac River.
“A multi-agency
search and rescue operation is underway in the Potomac River after an aircraft
crash,”
the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) stated on X. The department clarified
that contrary to initial reports, its own helicopter was not involved in the
incident, but was assisting in the response efforts.
The airport
announced that all takeoffs and landings were halted due to an “aircraft
emergency”. However, the terminal remained open to passengers.
Authorities are
urging the public to avoid the area to allow emergency personnel to perform
their duties.
The
collision of a US Army helicopter and a civilian airliner that killed 67 people
could have been prevented, President Donald Trump has said, questioning air
traffic controllers’ actions.
The
H-60 BlackHawk helicopter collided with Flight 5342 that was on its final
approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday evening.
Rescue teams have not recovered any survivors from the freezing Potomac River.
“It
is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the
helicopter go up or down, or turn,” Trump posted on his
TruthSocial platform early on Thursday.
The
president also questioned why the control tower had failed to instruct the
helicopter crew what to do.
“This
is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
Trump added.
At
9pm local time, when the crash happened, the airport reported clear skies, with
16km visibility and winds from the northwest. The air temperature was 10C, but
parts of the Potomac River were still frozen from an earlier cold snap.
The
passenger jet was a Bombardier CRJ700 operated by PSA, a subsidiary of American
Airlines. The flight from Wichita, Kansas was on landing approach to Runway 33,
with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) has said.
Among
the passengers were several athletes, coaches and family members returning from
the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
Nearly
300 first responders were deployed to sift the wreckage for survivors, but
found none as of Thursday morning. Operations were soon shifted from rescue to
recovery.
Emergency crews
have recovered 28 bodies from the near-freezing river following the collision
of an American Airlines jet carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk
helicopter with three aboard near Reagan National Airport in Washington DC,
according to Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly.
The official has
confirmed that emergency crews are switching from a rescue mission to a
recovery operation, adding that efforts are ongoing to return the victims’
remains to their families.
“We don’t
believe there are any survivors from this accident and we have recovered 27
people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” Donnelly told
reporters.
First responders
have been working in “extremely frigid conditions. They found heavy wind.
They found ice on the water, and they’ve operated all night in those
conditions,” according to Donnelly.
Families of
victims have been assured that all bodies from Wednesday night’s crash will be
recovered. Currently, 67 are believed dead – 64 from the passenger plane and
three from the helicopter.
“I’m confident
we will do that, but it will take time and may require additional equipment,” Donnelly said,
noting that the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the next phase
of the operation.
The crash was “absolutely
preventable,” the newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told
reporters on Thursday.
“We are going to
wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but … what
I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” Duffy said.
He noted that
the Black Hawk was on a training mission but emphasized that this does not
imply the pilot was inexperienced.
Wednesday
night’s crash was the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since November 12,
2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed in New York, killing all 260
people on board.
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