On Wednesday night, a tragic accident occurred when a commercial jet and an Army helicopter collided in the air near Washington, D.C. Sadly, officials believe that there were no survivors among the 64 people on the plane and the 3 service members on the helicopter.
Both the plane, which was an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700, and the helicopter, a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, crashed into the icy Potomac River near Reagan National Airport. Emergency crews have recovered 27 bodies from the wreckage of the plane and one from the helicopter. Washington’s fire chief, John Donnelly, announced that they were switching from a rescue mission to a recovery operation.
The airline reported that 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard Flight 5342, which took off from Wichita at around 6:20 p.m. Eastern Time. The collision happened around 9 p.m. while the plane was approaching the runway.
Initial investigations are underway, and officials say that everything appeared normal before the crash. The sky was clear, and both aircraft were following proper flight paths. There were no issues with communication between the planes and air traffic control. Robert Isom, the CEO of American Airlines, mentioned that the pilot of the jet had a lot of experience.
Air traffic control recordings caught the last messages from the helicopter, call sign PAT25, just before it hit the plane. An air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it saw the jet, instructing it to fly behind the CRJ. Just seconds later, another aircraft reported seeing the crash.
Webcam footage of the incident captured the explosion lighting up the night sky, with one controller saying, “I just saw a fireball.”
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