Updated: 1030pm (AEDT)
Washington DC, US
Reuters
Scores of people were feared dead after an American Airlines regional passenger jet carrying 64 people collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.
NBC’s Washington affiliate News4 reported that more than 30 bodies had been recovered from the river. US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, from where the flight was travelling, suggested most if not all those on board had been killed.
A search and rescue boat operates along the Potomac River near the site of the crash after American Eagle flight 5342 collided with a helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed in the Potomac River, outside Washington, US, on 29th January, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Carlos Barria
“It’s really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously,” he told a press conference at Reagan airport in the US capital early on Thursday.
“When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow. It’s a heartbreak beyond measure.”
American Airlines confirmed 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet. The helicopter, on a training flight, was carrying three soldiers, a US official said.
Passengers on the flight included ice skaters, family and coaches returning from events in Wichita, including Russian-born former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
CBS News reported that a dive team had recovered one of the two data recorders, the so-called black boxes, from the plane.
The midair collision occurred as the passenger jet was approaching to land at Reagan. Radio communications between the air traffic control tower and the Black Hawk showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the vicinity.
The Pentagon said it was launching an investigation.
In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump questioned the actions of the helicopter crew and air traffic controllers on what he described as a clear night.
“This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!,” he wrote.
American Eagle Flight 5342 was operated by PSA Airlines, an Ohio-based regional subsidiary of American Airlines. The plane was a CRJ-700, the airline said, from a line of regional jets made by Canada’s Bombardier, later sold to Mitsubishi.
Air traffic control recordings appear to capture the final attempted communications with the helicopter, call sign PAT25, before it collides with the CRJ jet.
“PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller says at 8:47pm, according to a recording on liveatc.net.
Seconds later, another aircraft calls in to air traffic control, saying, “Tower, did you see that?” – apparently referring to the crash. An air traffic controller then redirects planes heading to runway 33 to go around.
Webcam video of the crash showed the collision and an explosion lighting up the night sky.
“I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river,” an air traffic controller was heard saying over the radio.
Emergency services operate at Gravelly Point, after American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a helicopter while approaching Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed in the Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, US, on 29th January, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz
Rescue efforts
The skaters on board were returning from a camp following an event in Wichita, governing body US Figure Skating said.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” it said.
Russian media said Shishkova and Naumov, who were married and working as coaches, were returning from Wichita with a group of young skaters. Russia’s Mash news outlet published a list of 13 skaters, many of them the children of Russian emigres to the US, who it said were believed to have been on the plane.
The Kremlin offered condolences to the families of Russians killed and said there were no plans for contacts for now between President Vladimir Putin and Trump.
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Washington DC fire chief John Donnelly said first responders were working on the rescue operation.
“Conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders,” Donnelly said. “It’s cold. They’re dealing with windy conditions.”
Asked whether there were any survivors, he said: “We don’t know yet.”
“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 said.
Airports authority CEO Potter said the airport would remain closed until at least 11am on Thursday.
“We’re cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation and will continue to provide all the information we can,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said.
In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River, killing 70 passengers and four crew members. Only four passengers and one crew member survived.
The last deadly major crash involving a commercial airliner in the US was in 2009, when all 49 people aboard a Colgan Air flight died when the plane crashed in New York state. One person was also killed on the ground.
– With JAMIE FREED, IDREES ALI, KANISHKA SINGH, JASPER WARD, and RAMI AYYUB in Washington DC; BRAD BROOKS in Colorado; JOE BROCK and COSTAS PITAS in Los Angeles.
