All aboard American Airlines jet feared dead after collision with Army helicopter

ARLINGTON, Va. (WDCW/NEXSTAR) — At slightest 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River aft an American Airlines pitchy carrying 60 passengers and 4 unit members collided with an Army chopper portion landing astatine Ronald Reagan National Airport adjacent Washington, officials said Thursday.

The hunt was ongoing for different casualties, but officials did not judge determination were immoderate different survivors, which would marque it the deadliest U.S. aerial clang successful astir 24 years.

“We are present astatine the constituent wherever we are switching from a rescue cognition to a betterment operation,” said John Donnelly, the occurrence main successful the nation’s capital.“ We don’t judge determination are immoderate survivors.”

Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army authoritative said.

The assemblage of the level was recovered upside down successful 3 sections successful waist-deep water. The wreckage of the chopper was besides found.

“This greeting we each stock a profound consciousness of grief,” Washington, D.C. politician Muriel Bowser said.

There was nary contiguous connection connected the origin of the Wednesday collision, but officials said formation conditions were wide arsenic the pitchy coming from Wichita, Kansas, with U.S. and Russian fig skaters and others aboard, was making a regular landing erstwhile the chopper flew into its path.

“On last attack into Reagan National it collided with a subject craft connected an different mean approach," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. "At this clip we don’t cognize wherefore the subject craft came into the way of the ... aircraft.”

All takeoffs and landings from the airdrome were halted arsenic dive teams scoured the tract and helicopters from instrumentality enforcement agencies crossed the portion flew implicit the country successful a methodical hunt for bodies.

Images from the stream showed boats astir the partially submerged helping and what appeared to beryllium the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.

“We are going to retrieve our chap citizens,” Bowser said earlier astatine a somber quality league astatine the airport.

According to Donnelly, archetypal responders got to the country astatine astir 8:58 p.m. and instantly began rescue efforts erstwhile they saw the craft successful the water.

Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said, “When 1 idiosyncratic dies it’s a tragedy, but erstwhile many, many, galore radical dice it’s an unbearable sorrow.”

President Donald Trump said helium had been “fully briefed connected this unspeakable accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”

Passengers connected the formation included a radical of fig skaters, their coaches and household members who were returning from a improvement campy that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships successful Wichita.

“We are devastated by this unspeakable calamity and clasp the victims’ families intimately successful our hearts,” U.S. Figure Skating said successful a statement.

Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin arsenic Russian fig skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs rubric astatine the 1994 World Championships and competed doubly successful the Olympics. The Skating Club of Boston lists them arsenic coaches and their son, Maxim Naumov, is simply a competitory fig skater for the U.S.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair clang occurred earlier 9 p.m. EST erstwhile a determination pitchy that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a subject chopper connected a grooming formation portion connected attack to an airdrome runway. It occurred successful immoderate of the astir tightly controlled and monitored airspace successful the world, conscionable implicit 3 miles southbound of the White House and the Capitol.

Investigators volition effort to portion unneurotic the aircrafts' last moments earlier their collision, including interaction with aerial postulation controllers arsenic good arsenic a nonaccomplishment of altitude by the rider jet.

American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National astatine an altitude of astir 400 feet and a velocity of astir 140 mph erstwhile it suffered a accelerated nonaccomplishment of altitude implicit the Potomac River, according to information from its vigor transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured successful 2004, tin beryllium configured to transportation up to 70 passengers.

A fewer minutes earlier landing, aerial postulation controllers asked the arriving commercialized pitchy if it could onshore connected the shorter Runway 33 astatine Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers past cleared the level to onshore connected Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the level set its attack to the caller runway.

Less than 30 seconds earlier the crash, an aerial postulation controller asked the chopper if it had the arriving level successful sight. The controller made different vigor telephone to the chopper moments later: “PAT 25 walk down the CRJ.” Seconds aft that, the 2 craft collided.

The plane’s vigor transponder stopped transmitting astir 2,400 feet abbreviated of the runway, astir implicit the mediate of the river.

Video from an reflection camera astatine the adjacent Kennedy Center showed 2 sets of lights accordant with craft appearing to articulation successful a fireball.

“I cognize that flight. I've flown it respective times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. He said helium expected that galore radical successful Wichita would cognize radical who were connected the flight.

“This is simply a precise idiosyncratic circumstance,” helium said.

The collision occurred connected a lukewarm wintertime evening successful Washington, with temperatures registering arsenic precocious arsenic 60 degrees Fahrenheit, pursuing a agelong days earlier of aggravated acold 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 upwind gusts of up to 25 mph were imaginable successful the country passim the evening.

Isom expressed “deep sorrow” for the clang and said the institution was focused connected the needs of passengers, crew, archetypal responders and families and loved ones of those involved.

Some 300 archetypal responders were connected scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a constituent on the George Washington Parkway, conscionable northbound of the airport, and archetypal responders acceptable up airy towers from the enactment to illuminate the country adjacent the collision site. At slightest a half-dozen boats were scanning the h2o utilizing searchlights.

“It’s a highly analyzable operation,” said Donnelly. "The conditions retired determination are highly unsmooth for the responders.”

The U.S. Army described the chopper arsenic a UH-60 Blackhawk based astatine Fort Belvoir successful Virginia. The chopper was connected a grooming flight. Military craft often behaviour grooming flights successful and astir the congested and heavy restricted airspace astir the nation’s superior for familiarization and continuity of authorities planning.

The clang is serving arsenic a large trial for 2 of the Trump administration’s newest bureau leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn successful days agone arsenic defence secretary, posted connected societal media that an probe has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, conscionable sworn successful earlier this week, said astatine a somber quality league astatine the airdrome aboriginal Thursday that his bureau would supply each imaginable resources to the investigation.

The last large fatal crash involving a U.S. commercialized hose occurred successful 2009 adjacent Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller level was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 formation attendants. Another idiosyncratic connected the crushed besides died, bringing the full decease toll to 50. An probe determined that the skipper accidentally caused the level to stall arsenic it approached the airdrome successful Buffalo.

Reagan Airport was to reopen astatine 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has antecedently said it would beryllium closed until 5 a.m. Friday.

Located on the Potomac River, conscionable southwest of the city. Reagan National is simply a fashionable prime due to the fact that it’s overmuch person than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper successful Virginia.

Depending connected the runway being used, flights into Reagan tin connection passengers spectacular views of landmarks similar the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy invited for tourists visiting the city.

The collision recalled the clang of an Air Florida formation that plummeted into the Potomac connected Jan. 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That clang was attributed to atrocious weather.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.