Crews working to retrieve the passengers of the American Airlines jet and the army helicopter that collided and crashed into the Potomac on Wednesday night have to contend with the dangerously cold waters of the Potomac River.
Water temperatures between 33 and 36 degrees were reported near the crash site shortly after the incident, which is believed to have taken the lives of all who were involved. Just a degree below is considered to be freezing.
“At these frigid water temperatures, the human body’s core temperature quickly drops. Exhaustion or unconsciousness can occur in as little as 15 to 30 minutes,” AccuWeather Senior Director of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin explained in a statement.
Workers are at risk of developing hypothermia: a dangerous condition that can occur when a person is exposed to extreme cold temperature and the body loses heat faster than it can produce. It can happen in just minutes, and death can occur in under an hour.
In the water, it can occur at temperatures well above freezing – and even in waters as warm as 80 degrees. When the body hits the cold water, “cold shock” can cause dramatic changes in breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. Rapid breathing creates a greater risk of drowning, even for confident swimmers. In choppier waters, the danger increases. Dressing for cold water, wearing a life jacket, and carrying a radio could be the difference between life and death.
On Thursday, the weather will remain chilly and dry, the forecasting company said, with winds between five and 10 miles an hour. Highs are in the low 50s before rain arrives in the area early Friday morning. The temperature was near 50 degrees with faster winds at the time of the crash.
DePodwin says the Potomac waters are much colder now than at the same time last year.
“It’s been much colder than the historical average in Washington, D.C., this month due to persistent blasts of Arctic air. This has caused the Potomac River to be colder than it is typically at this time of year, with ice on parts of the river.” he explained. “Last year at this time, the water in the Potomac River was about 10 degrees warmer.”
DePodwin noted that this isn’t the first aviation tragedy in the Potomac. In January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the river immediately after takeoff due to icing on the aircraft.
“That crash occurred during the day and during a similar cold stretch in the D.C. area. There were 78 fatalities, including 4 on the ground. Five people survived that accident,” he said.
