A collision on Wednesday between an American Airlines jet and a US military helicopter near Washington DC has killed all 67 people onboard both aircraft, in the United States’ worst aviation disaster in years.
The incident occurred at about 9pm as the passenger plane was on approach to land at Reagan National airport from Wichita, Kansas. Operated by the regional carrier PSA Airlines as American Eagle flight 5342, the jet was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, and collided with a US army helicopter with three soldiers onboard, sending both into the Potomac River.
“This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions,” Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly.”
It was the first fatal commercial airline crash in the US since 2009, according to Sean Duffy, the newly confirmed transportation secretary who was sworn into office the day before the crash. He added that he believed the incident was “preventable”.
The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said the helicopter involved carried “a fairly experienced crew” based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia that was conducting a “required annual night evaluation”.
“They did have night vision goggles,” Hegseth said, adding that an investigative team had already been deployed to the crash site and that it would determine whether the aircraft was in the corridor and at the right altitude at the time of the incident.
“It’s a tragedy, a horrible loss of life,” he said.
Trump, who was sworn into the presidency last week, alternated between consoling the nation and seeking to use the crash for political gain. At his press conference, he argued that changes made under Joe Biden to requirements for hiring air traffic controllers may have been a factor in the accident.
“We had the highest standard that you could have, and then they changed it back – that was Biden,” Trump said, implying that he believed these changes were made as part of diversity programs that his administration was vowed to repeal.
Asked to provide proof, Trump declined, saying instead that the conclusion was “common sense”.
A preliminary investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration found that staffing at the Reagan National airport’s control tower on Wednesday evening was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic”, according to the New York Times. The airport is one of three serving Washington DC, and has struggled to properly staff its control towers, as have other airports nationwide.
More than 300 emergency workers, including divers, deployed to the Potomac after the crash, weathering high winds and packed ice for what was initially a search-and-rescue operation. On Thursday morning, Washington DC’s fire chief, John Donnelly, announced that the focus has shifted to recovering bodies.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” he told a press conference.
Donnelly said that the wreckage from the aircraft had been spread out by the wind but that recovery efforts continued and he was confident rescuers could recover all those onboard. Of those found so far, 27 were from the plane and one from the helicopter.
“We will continue to work to find all the bodies to reunite them with their loved ones,” Donnelly said. “I’m confident that we will do that. It will take us a little bit of time. It may involve some more equipment.”
Several of the victims were in Wichita for a development camp hosted by US figure skating, according to the Skating Club of Boston, which released the names of its six skaters, coaches and family members who were onboard the jet.
“Our sport and this club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy,” the CEO and executive director, Doug Zeghibe, said on Instagram. “We are devastated and completely at a loss for words.”
Citing Russia’s state-run Tass news agency, Reuters reported that two world champion figure skaters from the country, Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were onboard the plane.
The Bombardier CRJ-700 jet broke into three parts and was in waist-deep water in the Potomac, Duffy said. Both the helicopter and the passenger plane were flying in a “standard flight pattern” on a clear night before the crash and investigators would work to ascertain how the accident occurred, he added.
Duffy noted that it was not uncommon for military aircraft to be seen in the skies over the nation’s capital, including near Reagan National, which is located across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia.
“Safety is our expectation, everyone who flies in American skies expects we fly safely,” Duffy said. “That didn’t happen last night. We will not rest until we have answers for the families and the flying public. You should be assured when you fly, you are safe.”
Muriel Bowser, Washington’s mayor, said that the passengers of the plane included “families from our region, Kansas and across the country. We share a profound sense of grief.”
Reagan National airport closed immediately after the incident, but flights resumed later on Thursday. A helpline for family and friends of those potentially affected has been set up by American Airlines – (800) 679-8215.
“This is devastating,” said Robert Isom, chief executive of American Airlines. “We are all hurting, incredibly.”
