ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.
Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the Wednesday collision, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.
Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.
“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a somber news conference at the airport in which she declined to say how many bodies had been recovered.
The person who told The Associated Press that there had been multiple deaths was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said, “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow.”
President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”
Passengers on the flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.
Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin as Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships and competed twice in the Olympics. The Skating Club of Boston lists them as coaches and their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figure skater for the U.S.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight 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, manufactured in 2004, 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.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.
The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.
Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.
“I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. He said he expected that many people in Wichita would know people who were on the flight.
“This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.
The collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed “deep sorrow” for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.
Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.
“It’s a highly complex operation,” said D.C. fire chief John Donnelly. "The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.”
The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.
The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.
The last major 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, 2 pilots and 2 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.
Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.
Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is 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 collision 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.
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.
There was no immediate word on casualties or the cause of the collision, but 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.
Here's the latest:
Rescuers search in near freezing river water for survivors
Hundreds of rescuers were searching the frigid waters of the Potomac River for any survivors of the plane crash.
Images showed boats around a partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.
Helicopters flew overhead with powerful search lights scanning the murky waters, while emergency vehicles lit up the banks of the Potomac in a long line of blinking red lights.
The water temperature was just above freezing.
Global skating community ‘deeply shocked and heartbroken’
The international governing body for figure skating said the global skating community was “deeply shocked” and heartbroken to learn that figure skaters and those close to them were onboard the flight that collided with a military helicopter.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport — it’s a close-knit family — and we stand together,” the International Skating Union said in a statement.
Group of figure skaters and coaches were on the jet
Passengers on the jet included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp held after the national U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.
The organization confirmed that “several members of the skating community” were on the flight. It did not provide more details.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” the organization said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”
‘We don’t know yet,' fire chief says of possible survivors
Officials offered few details on the status of the victims as they concluded their early-morning press briefing Thursday.
“I can’t say anything about the rescue operation right now,” said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, as reporters continue to press for updates on the passengers.
She also declined to comment on the condition of aircraft, which remains submerged in the Potomac River.
Asked if there are any survivors, Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly, responded: “We don’t know yet. But we’re working."
Crews in plane crash response face ‘rough’ conditions
Officials who held a press conference at Reagan National Airport did not announce any deaths, but they all had a somber tone.
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said “when one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow.”
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser would not say whether any bodies were recovered from the crash.
There are currently about 300 responders working on the rescue operation
Washington Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said at the early Thurday news conference thatconditions are “extremely rough for responders,” with cold weather and intense wind.
The Potomac River is about 8 feet deep where the aircraft crashed after their collision.
“The water is dark. It is murky," Connelly said.
Sen. Jerry Moran says the crash is ‘a very personal circumstance’
BY CHRISTOPHER MEGERIANS
Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, said the plane that crashed was flying a route from Wichita to Washington that began about a year ago.
“I know that flight,” he said. “I’ve flown it several times myself.”
Moran said he expected that many people in Wichita would know people who were on the flight.
“This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.
Trump says collision ‘looks like it should have been prevented’
In a post on Truth Social, Trump questioned the tactics of the military helicopter and the air traffic controllers — both agencies that report to him as the president.
Writing that the “airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach for an extended period of time” on a “CLEAR NIGHT,” Trump questioned, “why didn’t the helicopter go up or down or turn,” and “why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane.”
“What a terrible night this has been. God Bless you all!” he added in a subsequent post.
AP source: Multiple people killed in midair collision
There were multiple fatalities after the midair collision, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Authorities are still conducting a search-and-rescue operation in an attempt to find survivors in the water and around the crash site.
-Mike Balsamo
Helicopter was on training flight
The U.S. Army said the helicopter that collided with a passenger jet was a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. A crew of three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said. The helicopter was on a training flight.
Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.
‘There was a lot of sadness’ in terminal after passenger jet crash
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz was waiting to catch his flight back to Buffalo, New York, when he saw through the terminal window some emergency vehicles moving out below.
“It didn’t seem anything too strange at that point,” Poloncarz said. “And then about a minute or so after that, there was an announcement of a full-ground stop, that there would be no flights landing and no flights taking off. And then we started to see a lot of emergency vehicles heading towards the river.”
Poloncarz and others soon saw reports on social media of a plane crash, while rumors began to swirl.
“When flights get delayed, people get aggravated and upset. But there was no one getting aggravated or upset because I think we all realized pretty quickly the magnitude of what occurred. The terminal grew pretty quiet. There was a lot of sadness.”
Last fatal U.S. commercial airline crash was in 2009
The last fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 in New York, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 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.
Audio shows no response from helicopter after air traffic control warning
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asks the helicopter if it has the arriving plane in sight: “PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?”
The controller makes another radio call to PAT25 moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.”
The two aircraft collide seconds later.
The audio from flight tracking sites doesn’t record any response from the helicopter, if any, to the warnings from air traffic control.
The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet (730 meters) short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.
Trump on aircraft accident: ‘May God Bless their souls’
President Donald Trump says he’s been briefed on the ‘terrible accident’ at Reagan National Airport.
In a statement late Wednesday, Trump thanked first responders for their “incredible work,” noting that he was “monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”
“May God Bless their souls,” he added
Noem says all available Coast Guard resources being deployed
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would be deploying all available resources from the U.S. Coast Guard for search and rescue efforts.
“We are actively monitoring the situation & stand ready to support local responders,” Noem said in a post on X.
Reagan Washington National a popular airport
Reagan Washington 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.
Details on 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.
‘Tower, did you see
that?’
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.
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ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.
There was no immediate word on casualties or the cause of the collision, but 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 Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred around 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, 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.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asks the helicopter if it has the arriving plane in sight. The controller makes another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that the two aircraft collide.
The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.
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.
The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that his department was “actively monitoring” the situation that involved an Army helicopter. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just 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 occured in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 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.
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