An American Airlines regional passenger jet with 64 people on board and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport last night, Jan. 29. There are no survivors.
In what’s being called “the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil in more than 20 years,” an American Eagle jet (operated by PSA Airlines), carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Witchita, Kans. to Washington, D.C., collided with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter carrying three at around 9 p.m. last night at DC’s Reagan Airport.
Both were reported to be on normal approach to the airport. Until the “black boxes” of both aircraft are recovered, the exact cause of the crash will not be known.
As of 8 a.m. today (Thursday), the airport was closed but was scheduled to reopen at 11 a.m., though all scheduled passengers were advised to check with their individual airlines. Update: the airport has reopened.
Also as of 8 a.m., 27 bodies from the jet and one from the Blackhawk had been recovered.
“We do not know why the military aircraft came into the path of the passenger jet,” said American Airlines CEO Robert Isam during an early-morning press conference at the airport.
Said U.S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas at the press conference, “It’s really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously…When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow. It’s a heartbreak beyond measure.”
Passengers on the flight included U.S. figure skaters, family and coaches returning from events in Wichita, as well as two world-class figure skaters from Russia.
The midair collision occurred as the passenger jet was approaching to land at Reagan. Radio communications between the air traffic control tower and the Black Hawk showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the vicinity.
Officials noted that last night’s accident was the first fatal crash involving a US airline since the 2009 crash of a Colgan Air-operated regional jet that killed 50 people.