Investigation Underway as Divers Search for 67 Killed When Passenger Jet, Blackhawk Helicopter Collide at Reagan National Airport

The devastating mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Blackhawk helicopter has left recovery teams scrambling to locate the bodies of all 67 people believed to have been killed in the grim crash.“We are at a point where this has gone from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” John Donnelly, Chief of Washington, DC Fire Department and Emergency Services said during an early morning press conference at Reagan National Airport. “At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors.”A large recovery operation was conducted through the night to recover the bodies of those aboard the American Airlines flight. A total of 28 bodies have been pulled from the river by sunrise on Thursday morning. The search for the remaining bodies continue.“I’m confident that we will do that, and that will take us a little bit of time, though. It may involve some more equipment,” Chief Donnelly said, adding that the National Transportation Safety Board would be taking the lead on operations.Reagan National Airport has been shuttered since last night’s collision but is scheduled to reopen and resume flights by 11 a.m.“It’s safe. We’ve worked with all of the federal agencies, FAA, and it’s been determined we can open that airport safely. The recovery effort that’s on our property is on the waterfront,” Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CEO Jack Potter said during the press conference. “The primary runway, 1/19, will be open. It’s away from any activity. “We’re going to have a secure area around that, so all are comfortable that we can get back to operations.”Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that both the Jet and the military helicopter were on a “standard flight pattern” and that it was not usual for the army aircraft to be in the airspace.“This was a clear night last night; the helicopter was in the standard pattern. If you live in the DC area, you will see helicopters up and down the river,” he said during a news conference. “The American Airline flight coming into land was in a standard flight pattern as it was coming into DCA, so this was not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA.”It was not immediately clear how or why the collision took place.“At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said Thursday morning.Among the victims on the plane included several US and Russian figure skaters, including former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the Kremlin confirmed to local Russian Media. It was not immediately clear which US skaters were on the flight. An unidentified source told Reuters that as many as 15 people aboard the flight may have been involved in figure skating.The athletes had been returning from the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement provided to CNN. “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.”All takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point near the airport along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport.President Trump took to Truth Social overnight saying that the crash could have been preventable.“It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane,” he wrote. “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”When asked by reporters, Secretary Duffy said he agreed with President Trump.“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,” he said.The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred around 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter while on approach to an airport runway. It occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts’ final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.American Airlines flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet was manufactured in 2004 and can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway. In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, “PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” in reference to the passenger aircraft.“Tower did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan. Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball. In a post on social media, American Airlines said it was aware of reports that one of its flights was involved in the incident and said it would provide more information once available.The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was sworn in days ago, posted on social media that his department was “actively monitoring” the situation because it involved an Army helicopter. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, sworn in earlier this week, said in a social media post that he was “at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation.”Reagan National is located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. It’s a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.The incident recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.The last fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

Investigation Underway as Divers Search for 67 Killed When Passenger Jet, Blackhawk Helicopter Collide at Reagan National Airport

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