A jet aircraft carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, after which a large -scale search and rescue operations were carried out in the nearby Pottomac River.
According to a person familiar with the case, many people have died, but the exact number of victims is not clear, as rescue teams are looking for survivors.
There was no immediate information about the cause of the collision, but all flights and landing were stopped from the airport, while helicopters of law enforcement agencies across the area were flying over the scene.
The rescue boats inflated in the Potomac River were launched from a point on the banks of George Washington Parkway to the north of the airport, and the first rescue team installed light tower from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least half a dozen boats are scanning water using search lights.
President Donald Trump said that he has been “given complete information about this terrible accident” and referring to the passengers, he said, “God should give peace to his soul.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the accident occurred around EST at 9 pm when a regional jet aircraft flying from Wichita, Kansas collided with a military helicopter on training flight while reaching the runway of the airport. The phenomenon occurred in the world’s most tightly controlled and monitored airspace, which is just three miles south of the White House and Capital.
Investigators will try to add the last moments before the aircraft collision, including contact with air traffic controllers and losing height by passenger jets.
American Airlines flight 5342 towards Reagan National was coming at a height of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 mph, when its height over the Potomac River was reduced rapidly, this information was received from the data found from its radio transponder. . The Canadian Bombardier CRJ-701 Twin-Inzon Jet, built in 2004, can be configured to carry 70 passengers.
A few minutes before the landing, air traffic controllers asked the upcoming commercial jet if he could land on Reagan National’s Small Runway 33 and the pilots said they could do so. After this, the controllers allowed the aircraft to land on runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed that the aircraft had changed its stand for the new runway.
Less than 30 seconds before the accident, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter whether it was seen by the aircraft. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter after a few moments: “PAT 25 passed behind CRJ.” A few seconds later, both aircraft collided.
The radio transponder of the aircraft stopped the broadcast in the middle of the river, about 2,400 feet before the runway. A video taken from an observation camera at a nearby Kennedy center showed two lights which looked like the aircraft being involved in the fire.
The collision occurred on a hot winter evening in Washington, when the temperature reached 60 degrees Fahrenheit, while a few days ago there was severe cold and snowfall. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the temperature of the Potomac River on Wednesday was 36 degrees Fahrenheit. The National Weather Service said that in the evening, the area can blow winds at a speed of 25 mph.
The US Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 BlackHock located in Fort Belwoir, Virginia. An army official said that a team of three soldiers was riding in the helicopter. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft often operate training flights in and around the country’s capital in and in highly restricted airspaces and fly for continuity.
The accident is working as a major examination for two new agency heads of Trump administration. Pete Hegseth, who was sworn in as the Defense Secretary a few days ago, posted on social media that the army and the Defense Department have “started immediate investigation”. Transport Secretary Sean Dafi, who took oath earlier this week, said in a social media post that he is “FAA in headquarters and is closely monitoring the situation.”
The airport will remain closed till 5 am on Friday. Reagan National is a popular option located on the banks of the Potomac River in the south-west of the city as it is very close from the large Dules International Airport, which is deeply in Virginia.
Based on the runway being used, flights in Reagan passengers were given Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, National Mall and U.S. Can provide magnificent views of sites like Capital. This is worthy of postcards for tourists visiting the city.
The incident is reminiscent of an Air Florida aircraft on 13 January 1982 that fell into Potomac, killing 78 people. The cause of that accident was said to be bad weather.
The last deadly accident related to the US commercial airline took place in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. All the people in the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller aircraft were killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, causing the total dead to 50. The investigation found that the captain accidentally stopped the aircraft near the airport in Buffalo.
