Federal and local officials in Washington, D.C. said Thursday there were no survivors following the midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. military helicopter near Washington late Wednesday, and recovery operations are continuing.
The American Airlines flight, operated by affiliate PSA Airlines, carried 64 passengers and crew, and the helicopter had a crew of three on what was classified as a training flight.
The two aircraft collided as the passenger jet was on its final approach to Reagan National Airport, just outside Washington in Arlington, Virgina, and crashed into the Potomac River adjacent to the airport.
At a news conference at the airport Thursday, Washington, D.C. Fire and Emergency Services Chief John Donnelly said emergency crews responded to an alert from the airport at 8:48 p.m. local time indicating there had been an air crash on or near the airport.
In photos: Passenger jet and military helicopter collide in Washington
Donnelly said in all, about 300 first responders from local, state and federal agencies were at the scene on the water in what he said were extremely frigid conditions with heavy wind and ice on the water.
The chief said they worked through the night, and as of early Thursday, they had recovered 27 bodies from the passenger jet and one crew member from the helicopter. Donnelly said his agency reports only the number of bodies that have been turned over to the medical examiner and those numbers may differ from other reports.
He said the wind and currents have spread the wreckage at least one to two kilometers down the river, complicating recovery efforts.
At the same news conference, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the night was clear and both aircraft were on what he called “standard” flight patterns. He said it is common for the skies near Washington to be filled with both commercial and military air traffic from nearby military bases.
Duffy said while the flight patterns of the aircraft were leading up the crash was standard, “obviously something happened.”
“It is not standard to have aircraft collide,” Duffy said, saying the accident was preventable. But he said the National Traffic Safety Board – NTSB – was investigating the accident and deferred to that agency.
In a video statement Thursday, U.S Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter was with the Bravo Company 12th Aviation Battalion assigned to Fort Belvoir, an army base 18 kilometers south of Reagan National Airport.
Hegseth said the crew was on an annual proficiency training night flying evaluation flight. The crew, he said, which has not been identified pending notification of kin, was equipped with night vision goggles and was fairly experienced. He said a senior level aviation investigative team has been deployed to assist with the investigation.
Transportation Secretary Duffy said there was communication between the air traffic control tower and both aircraft but did not provide details. He said the helicopter knew there was a plane in the area.
Both U.S. senators from Virginia, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, said at the news conference they have expressed concerns over the years about the level of air traffic in the Washington area but said it was not the appropriate time to raise those issues.
They also deferred to the ongoing NTSB investigation. That agency was not represented at the morning news conference, but it was expected to hold a briefing later Thursday.
Overnight, the U.S. Figure Skating organization said several members of its community, including athletes, coaches and family members, were among the passengers on the plane.
"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," the organization said.
The Kremlin and Russian media said Russian figure skaters, including world champion couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were on the plane.
“It's bad news today from Washington. We are sorry and send our condolences to families and friends," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Video of the crash captured from a camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights converging before a fireball erupts. Data from the plane showed it was at an altitude of about 120 meters at the time of the collision.
The last fatal U.S. passenger plane crash happened in 2009 in Buffalo, New York.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
