At different moments in history, the United States has been the scene of several tragic air accidents. One of the most shocking events occurred on January 31, 2000, when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737, coming from Mexico, crashed into the sea off the coast of Los Angeles after reporting mechanical difficulties. In this accident, all 230 occupants of the aircraft, as well as two people on the ground, lost their lives.
Another sad event took place on January 25, 1990, when a Boeing 707 from Avianca with 158 passengers on board crashed while attempting an emergency landing in Cove Neck, near J.F. Kennedy airport in New York, resulting in the deaths of 73 people. Additionally, on September 8, 1994, a USAir Boeing 737 plunged near the airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killing 70 people.
On November 12, 2001, an American Airlines Airbus A300 crashed in the residential neighborhood of Rockaway, New York, just minutes after taking off for Santo Domingo; there were no survivors in this tragedy. Another unfortunate event occurred on July 17, 1996, when a TWA Jumbo 747 exploded in the air just 45 minutes after taking off from New York headed for Paris and fell into the Atlantic Ocean.
One of the worst air disasters in U.S. history occurred in 1979 when an American Airlines aircraft crashed into a hangar at Chicago airport, resulting in the deaths of all 258 passengers, 13 crew members, and two people on the ground. This event remains one of the most tragic in the collective memory.
The most recent accident that shocked the country took place this Wednesday near Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. An aircraft crashed with at least 64 people on board after colliding with a military Black Hawk helicopter. Despite the efforts of emergency teams, the difficulties presented by the Potomac River area where the impact occurred, along with the low temperatures, hinder rescue operations.
So far, it has been confirmed that three people were traveling in the helicopter, but the cause of the collision has not been clarified. This new episode adds to a series of air tragedies that have marked the history of aviation in the United States.
