An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter on Wednesday evening while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. The crash triggered a large-scale search-and-rescue operation in the Potomac River.
According to a source familiar with the situation, there were multiple fatalities, although the exact number of victims remains unclear as rescue teams continue to search for survivors. Three soldiers were reported to have been aboard the Army helicopter at the time of the collision, according to an Army official.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and all flight operations at the airport were temporarily halted as rescue teams and law enforcement helicopters scoured the area. Images from the scene revealed a partially submerged wing and the twisted remains of the plane’s fuselage in the river.
“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” said District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser at a solemn press conference at the airport. She declined to disclose the number of bodies recovered at that time.
A source who spoke to The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the deaths but could not provide further details, as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas expressed his grief, saying, “When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow.”
President Donald Trump, after being fully briefed on the accident, offered his condolences, saying, “May God Bless their souls,” in reference to the victims.
Among the passengers on the American Airlines flight were a group of figure skaters, their coaches, and family members who had been attending a development camp after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita. In response to the tragedy, U.S. Figure Skating issued a statement expressing their devastation, saying, “We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts.”
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the crash occurred shortly before 9 p.m. EST when American Airlines Flight 5342, a regional jet departing from Wichita, Kansas, collided with the military helicopter while on approach to Reagan National Airport. The crash occurred in one of the most highly monitored airspaces in the world, just a few miles from the White House and U.S. Capitol.
Investigators are working to reconstruct the events leading up to the crash, including reviewing air traffic controller communications and analyzing the rapid descent of the American Airlines jet. Data from the plane’s radio transponder shows that it was traveling at 140 mph and about 400 feet above ground level when it rapidly lost altitude over the Potomac River.
Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, was inbound to Reagan National, and air traffic controllers had cleared the flight to land on Runway 33 after the pilots confirmed they could land on that shorter runway. A few moments before the crash, the controller asked the helicopter if it had the commercial jet in sight, to which the helicopter crew responded affirmatively. Less than 30 seconds later, the two aircraft collided.
The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting approximately 2,400 feet short of the runway, over the Potomac River. Nearby surveillance footage from the Kennedy Center captured two sets of aircraft lights that appeared to merge in a fiery explosion.
Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, who was familiar with the flight, said, “I’ve flown it several times myself.” He expressed deep concern, noting that many people in Wichita would likely know those on board the flight. “This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.
SOURCE: APNews
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