By LOLITA C. BALDOR, TARA COPP and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said Thursday.
Here’s what we know so far:
What caused the collision? That’s unclear as of Thursday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair collision occurred around 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. Are there casualties? The search was ongoing for other casualties, but officials did not believe there were any other survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years. American Airlines says 60 passengers and 4 crew members were on the plane. Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said. What’s the latest on the search efforts? All takeoffs and landings from the airport are halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.The search was ongoing for other casualties, but officials did not believe there were any other survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.
“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital.“ We don’t believe there are any survivors.”
The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.
First responders are seen at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A boat on the Potomac River, cruises past emergency response vehicles seen staging at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling, in the early morning hour, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington, as seen from across the river near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
An airport police officer walks behind the American Airlines counter at Wichita’s Eisenhower Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Wichita, Kan., after news that an American Airlines flight from Wichita collided with a helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)
A information board displays a message at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
People walk through the virtually empty Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Emergency vehicles stage at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. The U.S. Capitol is seen, right, across the Potomac River in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Emergency equipment stages at Gravelly Point, north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, along the Potomac River, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
A helicopter uses its searchlight as it flies above the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
A helicopter uses its searchlight as it flies above the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A view of emergency response looking from Arlington, Va., south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, across the Potomac River toward the District of Columbia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Emergency equipment stages at Gravelly Point, north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, along the Potomac River, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Emergency equipment stages at Gravelly Point, north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, along the Potomac River, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
A view of emergency response looking from Arlington, Va., south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, across the Potomac River toward the District of Columbia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A view of emergency response looking from Arlington, Va., south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, across the Potomac River toward the District of Columbia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A view of emergency response looking from Arlington, Va., south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, across the Potomac River toward the District of Columbia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Show Caption1 of 15First responders are seen at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Expand“This morning we all share a profound sense of grief,” Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser said
Passengers on the flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.
Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin as Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships and competed twice in the Olympics. The Skating Club of Boston lists them as coaches and their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figure skater for the U.S.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. It occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.
Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts’ final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.
American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.
A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.
The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.
Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.
“I know that flight. I’ve flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. He said he expected that many people in Wichita would know people who were on the flight.
“This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.
The collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.
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Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.
“It’s a highly complex operation,” said D.C. fire chief John Donnelly. “The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.”
The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.
The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.
The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.
Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.
Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.
Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.
The collision recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.
Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.
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