A devastating outdoor collision between an American regional jet of airlines and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport left more than 60 people fearing the dead, without survivors.
The authorities have so far confirmed the recovery of 28 organizations, including 27 from the plane and one of the helicopter.
The accident occurred around 8:48 p.m. Thursday evening while the regional flight of American Airlines, operating as American Eagle Flight 5342, approached Wichita airport, Kansas.
The flight, a CRJ-700 operated by PSA Airlines, transported 60 passengers and four crew members, including ice skaters and their coaches.
The bodies are on the ground next to emergency vehicles, near the accident site after the American Eagle 5342 flight collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed in the Potomac river, outside Washington, United States, January 30, 2025. Photo: Reuters
Among the passengers were the former world champions born in Russia, Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who returned from a skating event in Wichita.
The US Army Black Hawk helicopter, on a training flight, transported three soldiers. The two planes would have followed normal flight patterns at the time of the collision, which took place under clear conditions, according to the US transport secretary Sean Duffy.
The chief firefighters of the Columbia district, John Donelly, confirmed that the first stakeholders were confronted with “extremely icy conditions” while trying recovery operations in the Potomac river, where the wreck was found.
Ice, heavy wind and low temperatures have posed significant challenges throughout the night. He also thanked the many agencies involved in the efforts and said that at present, the authorities do not believe that there are survivors.
“We are going to work to find all the bodies and bring them together with their loved ones,” chief Donelly said at a press conference on Friday.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation into the accident, and American Airlines cooperates entirely.
A diving team has recovered one of the two aircraft data recorders and the authorities continue to search for additional clues concerning the cause of the tragic accident.
Witnesses said they saw an explosion and a fireball while the two planes collided. An airport controller was heard on the radio, calling for other planes to detach himself, a few moments after the accident.
The incident promises to be one of the deadliest American aviation disasters in more than a decade.
Photo: Reuters
Among the victims, there were ice skaters from our figure skating, who are now crying for the loss of their athlete colleagues, family members and coaches.
The Kremlin also expressed condolences to the families of Russian nationals who died in the accident.
The tragedy recalls a similar disaster in 1982 when the flight 90 of Air Florida crashed in the bridge of the 14th street on the Potomac, killing 74 people.
In the United States, the most recent accident in the deadly commercial airline took place in 2009, when a Colgan Air flight fell in New York, killing the 50 on board.
