Over 60 people are feared dead following a mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and a commercial jet near Washington D.C. on Wednesday night. Video footage captured the moment of impact, resulting in a massive fireball. A large search-and-rescue operation is underway in the Potomac River, hampered by strong winds and icy water temperatures of 42 degrees. As of Thursday morning, authorities have recovered 28 bodies out of the 67 individuals believed to have perished, according to Chief John Donnelly of Washington’s fire and emergency service.
Officials have announced that the efforts are shifting from a rescue mission to a recovery operation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the helicopter crew involved was “fairly experienced.” As hopes for survivors dwindle, authorities have transitioned from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. Chief Donnelly confirmed that no survivors are expected. US officials, including President Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, attributed the tragedy to preventability, with the incident being described by the President as “a bad situation that should have been prevented.” The airport is currently closed as investigations into the cause of the crash continue.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asserted that the incident was “absolutely preventable” and emphasized that passengers should feel confident in the safety of flying. The tragic event occurred when an American Airlines plane approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter at 8:47 PM ET on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses reported a horrifying explosion lighting up the night sky, with one bystander describing it as resembling “a giant Roman candle.”
Air traffic control monitored the collision as both aircraft descended into the river. A dispatcher confirmed the accident’s location in the river during communications captured by CBS News. The airport remained closed until 11 AM while law enforcement helicopters searched for survivors, and inflatable rescue boats were deployed into the Potomac River from the George Washington Parkway. Video footage from a nearby observation camera at the Kennedy Center captured what appeared to be two aircraft merging into a large fireball.
Investigators are examining why the helicopter was operating at that specific altitude and location at the time of the accident. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated at a Thursday press conference that the flight patterns of both aircraft were “not unusual” and confirmed that the helicopter was aware of the plane’s presence, indicating effective communication between the two.
Duffy noted that the plane’s fuselage is submerged in waist-deep water. Rescue operations, involving 300 first responders, were conducted under challenging conditions, including heavy winds and icy water temperatures, according to Chief Donnelly.
American Eagle Flight 5342, traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C., was involved in a collision while carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. Among those on board were several Russian immigrants and their children, including a group of figure skaters and coaches attending the National Figure Skating Championships.
Notably, the flight included Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the pair winners of the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, as well as fellow skater Inna Volyanskaya. Naumov and Shishkova, who coached at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, sadly lost their lives in the accident, along with two teenage club members, 16-year-olds Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, and their mothers, Molly Lane and Jin Han.
Doug Zeghibe, the club’s executive director, described Spencer as an exceptionally talented and enthusiastic skater, while Jinna was remembered as a wonderful competitor loved by all. He praised their mothers as dedicated individuals who constantly made sacrifices for their children’s skating pursuits.
Family members anxiously gathered near the crash site, seeking updates on their loved ones. Hamaad Raza, whose wife was on the flight, recounted that she texted him 20 minutes prior to the incident to say they were about to land. He felt something was wrong when his messages to her stopped going through.
The Association of Flight Attendants, representing cabin crews at PSA Airlines, confirmed that there were two flight attendants on board. Union president Sara Nelson expressed support for the affected families and crews and praised the first responders working to rescue survivors.
Three U.S. Army soldiers were aboard the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the collision, as confirmed by a U.S. official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that the soldiers’ status remains unknown, but reassured that no senior officials were on the aircraft.
The Army UH-60 helicopter, based out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was on a training flight at the time of the incident. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the crew as “fairly experienced.”
During a press conference at the White House, President Donald Trump suggested that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives could have contributed to a recent fatal collision in aviation. He claimed that the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to recruit employees with severe disabilities and mental health issues might compromise air travel safety.
When a reporter inquired if he was implying that the crash was caused by diversity hiring and what evidence he had for this assertion, Trump responded, “It just could have been.”
“We maintain a higher standard than anyone else, which relies heavily on mental capability and psychological quality,” he stated. The investigation into the tragedy is still ongoing, and it has not yet been determined whether the FAA was at fault.