DC Fire and EMS (DCFD) said an American Airlines aircraft crashed into the Potomac River Wednesday night.
In a joint statement from DCFD and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), officials said that multiple calls came in for an aircraft crash above the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport (DCA) just after 8:50 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that preliminarily, investigators believe that a regional jet with American Airlines that was approaching DCA’s runways collided with a helicopter.
According to CNN, the plane, American Airlines Flight 5342, had 60 passengers and 4 crew members on board and had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the airline.
Witnesses reported seeing a “massive
crash” and hearing a loud boom, followed by a massive rescue response.
The White House confirmed a military helicopter was involved in the incident.
“I have called over to my counterparts at the White House, and I can confirm that President Trump has been made aware of this situation,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“And tragically, it appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet at DCA airport right here in Washington, DC. That’s all I can confirm at this point in time.”
The US Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the passenger aircraft had a crew of three and was not carrying any VIPs, according to a US defense official.
Senior Army officials often use Black Hawks for travel in the Washington, DC, area.
Fireboats are on the scene at the Potomac River in Arlington, the DC Fire and EMS Department posted to X just after 9 p.m.
All takeoffs and landings have been halted at at Reagan National Airport, the airport announced on X.
My heart goes out with the family members of the victims. Let’s hope for some good news.
Unfortunately it has been confirmed that there are no survivors
https://apnews.com/live/dc-plane-crash-reagan-updates
I believe this is the first major domestic accident since the crash of Flight 3407 from Newark to Buffalo on 2/12/2009. 50 people died in that crash, and many new aviation rules came as a result including increase in minimum pilot experience from 250 to 1,500 hours
Is that you Dan? Or just a Dan fan
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jumbo-jets-collide-at-canary-islands-airport
I heard on Fox News that the military helicopter was on a training flight.
The air traffic controller also changed the runway to land at.
There have been an alarming number of plane crashes/accidents around the world in the last several weeks.
I wonder what this all means on a ruchnius level.
May there be revealed good news. Moshiach please come Now!
It means (or at least should mean) on every level imagined, that many humans lost their lives. I wonder what it means when for someone that is not enough meaning.