At least 19 bodies have been recovered so far from the icy waters of the Potomac River in Washington, where a passenger plane crashed after colliding in mid-air with a military helicopter.
The American Airlines aircraft, a Bombardier CRJ700, operating flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas with 60 passengers and a four-member crew, collided while approaching for landing on runway 33 of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the US capital with a Black Hawk military helicopter, carrying three soldiers, which was performing a training flight.
The aircraft – registered to American Airlines but operated by its subsidiary, PSA Airlines, a member of American Eagle's network of six regional carriers – crashed into the murky, icy waters of the Potomac River, which flows through Washington, and lies cut in two in two meters of water, while the helicopter lies upside down a little further away.
According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft was flying at a speed of 228 km/h at an altitude of 120 meters above the Potomac when it collided with the helicopter.
Rescue crews are combing the river waters and according to CBS they have recovered at least 19 bodies, while two law enforcement sources said no survivors have been found so far.
"We don't know if there are any survivors"
At a news conference at Reagan National Airport, officials did not release a death toll, but the mood was somber. "When one person dies, it's a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, the grief is unbearable," said Kansas Senator Roger Marshall.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser did not say whether any bodies had been recovered from the scene of the tragedy. While the head of the US capital's Fire Department stressed: "We don't know if there are any survivors, but we are working hard."
All flights to and from the airport near Washington were suspended until 11 a.m. local time as law enforcement helicopters flew over the scene of the tragedy searching for survivors.
Dramatic video from the moment of the collision
A closed-circuit camera near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport captured the moment of the explosion.
Webcam footage from the Kennedy Center shows a flash in the sky over the Potomac River at around 20:47 p.m. local time and the aircraft bursting into flames.
Hopes of finding survivors in the icy waters of the Potomac are fading
But while rescue teams continue their frantic search of the Potomac River, hopes are beginning to fade for finding survivors, as the water temperature is around 2 degrees Celsius.
NBC's chief meteorologist, Doug Kammerer, said that at the time of the accident the river water temperature was just below 3 degrees Celsius.
He noted that at this temperature, someone in the water has only 15-20 minutes before they begin to suffer from hypothermia.
The US National Weather Service said winds of up to 40 km/h were expected in the area.
Officials are preparing, according to CNN, for what could be the deadliest aviation tragedy in Washington since 1982, when an Air Florida plane crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, which connects Arlington to the US capital.
The dramatic dialogue between the control tower and the helicopter pilot
An audio document captures the moment when air traffic controllers in the control tower ask the helicopter if it can see the PSA Airlines flight.
– “PAT 2-5 do you see CRJ,” the controller asks. And then he says:
-"PAT 2-5 passed behind CRJ."
The audio clip then includes voices and a loud "Oooooh" in the background at the moment of the collision. The control tower then informs another pilot about what happened.
"I don't know if you realized what happened, but there was a collision on approach at the end of runway 33. We will shut down the operation for the foreseeable future if you want it to return to the gate. I recommend that you coordinate with the company. Let me know what you want to do," the controller says.
"A huge flash and a loud bang"
An eyewitness told NBC News that he saw a plane about 40 to 50 meters off the ground preparing to land. But when Ari Shulman looked back a few moments later, he was speechless: "It looked like a giant Roman candle, sparks flying from the nose to the tail of the aircraft. I saw it for about two seconds."
Federal employee Ray Best told CNN that he heard a "loud pop."
"So I turned to the side and saw a big flash and then something falling. Because it was dark I couldn't tell what it was, if it was a firework or something else."
Abadi Ismali said he heard “two unusual bangs, something I had never heard before,” and described the sound as “like a war zone.” He ran to his window, but said he could see nothing “except a little smoke.”
300 people are participating in the frantic search for the passengers of the plane and helicopter
Local, state and federal agencies have mobilized forces to assist in search and rescue efforts, which involve about 300 people, according to Washington Fire Chief John A. Donnelly Sr.
Trump: The plane was going normally, the helicopter saw it and went and crashed into it
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngin announced that rescue and trauma teams from across Northern Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland "rapidly mobilized" to help find victims of the plane crash, while Maryland Governor Wes Moore said that Maryland State Police have deployed divers to the scene.
At the federal level, the FBI is assisting local agencies, and Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem said the U.S. Coast Guard is “deploying every available… resource for search and rescue operations.” “We are actively monitoring the situation and stand ready to support local responders,” she said.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth also noted that the Department of Defense is “ready to assist if needed.” The director general of the Washington Transit Authority also announced that it has deployed heated buses for any survivors pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac.
"I pray someone pulls her out of the river"
Hamaad Raza told CNN that his wife was on the fatal plane. "I'm just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river as we speak," he said.
He said he received a text message from his wife shortly before the plane was expected to land. "She texted me that they would be landing in 20 minutes," he said. But the messages he sent her were not delivered.
"That's when I realized something might have gone wrong," he said.
Relatives' anguish at Reagan Airport
Relatives and friends of the passengers arrive at Reagan National Airport hoping to hear news about their loved ones. "I don't know if they were on the plane or not," one woman told an airport official, breaking down in tears.
Among them was a father who said his daughter's best friend was returning to Washington from an ice skating competition. "I didn't hear much. I just got off work and came here to hang out with my friends," he said. The skating competition was in Wichita, Kansas, where the fatal plane took off.
Other relatives, in their anguish, said that they receive little to no information from airport officials and that they are informed mainly from media reports.
The plane crash is a first test for the Trump administration in its second week in office. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took office a few days ago, while the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Sean Duffy to lead the Transportation Department, which oversees the Federal Aviation Administration.
Trump: The conflict "should have been prevented"
US President Donald Trump angrily commented that the crash of a US military helicopter and a passenger plane near Washington "should have been prevented."
“The plane was on a perfect, routine approach to the airport. The helicopter was heading directly at the plane for an extended period of time. The night was clear, the plane’s (approach) lights were on, why didn’t the helicopter climb or descend or turn,” the Republican president asked. “Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if it saw the plane. This is a bad situation that clearly should have been avoided,” he added.
History unfortunately repeats itself
Reagan National Airport is located along the Potomac River southwest of Washington, D.C., and is a popular choice because it is much closer to the capital than the larger Dulles International Airport.
The air tragedy is reminiscent of the crash of an Air Florida flight that fell into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, killing 78 people in an accident attributed to adverse weather conditions.
The last fatal crash on a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York, when all 49 people on board – 45 passengers and four crew members – aboard a Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane were killed, and one person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation at the time found that the captain accidentally stalled the plane as it approached Buffalo Airport.
What we know about the plane and helicopter that collided in mid-air
The Bombardier CRJ700, which can carry about 70 people, is widely used in regional commercial aviation. About 260 of the aircraft are in service in the United States, according to aviation data firm Cirium.
The plane that collided with the helicopter and crashed in Washington had the registration number N530EA and was built in 2010, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The aircraft was registered to American Airlines but operated by its wholly owned subsidiary, PSA Airlines.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is one of the most iconic military helicopters, fulfilling multiple roles for the US military, including attack, general support, evacuation of casualties from war zones, command and control, and special operations support.
The helicopter involved in the crash with the aircraft was flying with the call sign PAT25 and had three people on board, according to the Aviation Safety Network, a public database of air accidents.
More than 5.000 Black Hawks have been built since their production began in the mid-1970s.
Source: iefimerida.gr
