An airplane from the American Airlines subsidiary, PSA, and a United States Army helicopter collided on the night of Wednesday, January 29, in an accident that reports multiple fatalities. Nearly 300 rescuers are working to recover the aircraft from the Potomac River, near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, where they fell.
U.S. authorities expressed pessimism regarding the toll of the accident, and more details are expected to be provided on Thursday, January 30. President Donald Trump expressed condolences for the incident and thanked the rescuers for their efforts.
The accident involved the Bombardier CRJ700 commercial plane from PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, and a Black Hawk Sikorsky H-60 helicopter from the Army, which, according to preliminary reports, was conducting a training flight.
There were 60 passengers and 4 crew members on the American Airlines plane, while the helicopter had 3 people aboard. The regional airport was closed following the incident, which involved aircrafts of different types.
Before the accident, certain key moments were detailed by witnesses and recordings. Minutes before the collision, a Ronald Reagan Airport controller communicated with the helicopter to warn about its proximity to the plane coming from Kansas. Moments later, the collision occurred.
The causes of the accident and the sequence of events leading to the tragedy are expected to be revealed in the coming hours. Due to the winter location of the accident and the cold temperature of the Potomac River, recovering bodies is expected to be a complicated task for the rescuers.
The commercial aircraft was a Bombardier CRJ700 from American Airlines, operating flight 5342 from Kansas to Washington. Meanwhile, the Army helicopter belonged to the Aviation Battalion of Fort Belvoir and was on a training flight.
The Pentagon has already initiated an investigation into the accident to determine the causes and possible failures in communication between the control tower and the helicopter. They express concern about the collision in such a monitored airspace close to iconic locations in Washington.
