More than 60 dead in Washington after jet hits helicopter, crashes into river

By David Shepardson and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 60 people were dead after an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport. 

"At this point we do not believe there were any survivors," District of Columbia fire chief John Donnelly said at a Thursday press conference.

Donnelly said 28 bodies had been recovered from the river so far, in what was shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years. "We will work to find all the bodies and reunite them with their loved ones," he said.

American Airlines said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet, while U.S. officials said the helicopter was carrying three soldiers on a training flight. Officials told Reuters that helicopter flights had been paused for the Army unit involved in the incident.

Passengers on the flight included ice skaters, family and coaches returning from events in Wichita, Kansas, including Russian-born former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

"We have been told that there are no survivors. We mourn with all those who have been impacted," Wichita mayor Lily Wu said at a news conference.

The mid-air collision occurred as the passenger jet was approaching to land at Reagan. Radio communications showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the vicinity.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said both the helicopter and the airplane had been flying standard flight patterns, and there had been no breakdown in communication.

"Everything was standard in the lead-up to the crash," he said. "Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely."

Airspace is frequently crowded in the U.S. capital region, home to three commercial airports and several major military facilities, and officials have raised concerns about busy runways at Reagan National Airport, just across the river from Washington. There have been several near-miss incidents that have sparked alarm, including a near-collision in May 2024.

Daniel Driscoll, President Donald Trump's nominee for Army Secretary, said the military might rethink training operations in the region. "This seems to be preventable," he said at a Senate confirmation hearing. 

The helicopter was flown by a "fairly experienced crew" that was wearing night-vision goggles on an annual proficiency training flight, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video statement.

""We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," President Donald Trump said at the White House. 

He blamed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for lowering standards for air traffic controllers and complained about government diversity efforts.

"We have to have our smartest people," he said. "They have to be naturally talented geniuses."

Trump had earlier questioned the actions of the helicopter crew and air traffic controllers.

Over the last two years, a series of near-miss incidents have raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control operations.

American Eagle Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ-700, was operated by PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the pilot had about six years of flying experience.

Air traffic control recordings appear to capture the final attempted communications with the helicopter, call sign PAT25, before it collided with the jet.

"PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ," an air traffic controller says at 8:47 p.m. (0147 GMT) on Wednesday, according to a recording on liveatc.net.

Seconds later, another aircraft calls in to air traffic control, saying, "Tower, did you see that?" - apparently referring to the crash. An air traffic controller then redirects planes heading to runway 33 to go around.

"I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river," an air traffic controller says.

Webcam video of the crash showed the collision and an explosion lighting up the night sky. 

John Potter, head of the regional airport authority, said flights would resume at Reagan National at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (1600 GMT).

SKATERS ON BOARD       

The skaters on board were returning from a training camp in Wichita, governing body U.S. Figure Skating said. 

"Skating is a very close-knit and tight community," said a tearful Doug Zeghibe of the Skating Club of Boston, where Shishkova and Naumov coached. Two teenaged skaters affiliated with the club and their mothers were also aboard the plane, he told reporters. "We have lost family," he said. 

Russia's Mash news outlet published a list of 13 skaters, many of them the children of Russian emigres to the U.S., who it said were believed to have been on the plane.

The Kremlin offered condolences to the families of Russians killed.

The crash is not the first time U.S. skaters have been struck by an air tragedy. All 18 members of the U.S. national team, along with family members and coaches, were killed in February 1961 when a flight operated by Belgian airline Sabena crashed outside Brussels, killing all 72 people aboard.

ROUGH CONDITIONS

Washington DC fire chief Donnelly said conditions were cold and windy, making the operation "extremely rough" for the 300 responders on the scene.

CBS News reported that a dive team had recovered one of the two data recorders, the so-called black boxes, from the plane.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin told Reuters that the bodies of most of those involved in the collision had been recovered. "Everything was routine up to the point of the accident," he said. "Something went wrong."

It was shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. air disaster since November 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

Reagan National's main runway is the busiest in the United States, with over 800 daily takeoffs and landings. The National Transportation Safety Board has investigated nine accidents or incidents at the airport this century, including two that were fatal, records show.

The airport is only two miles from the White House and half a mile from the Pentagon, where 189 people died when Al Qaeda hijackers crashed American Airlines flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001.

In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River, killing 70 passengers and four crew members. Only four passengers and one crew member survived.

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said he had long been concerned about the busy airspace, where civilian and military aircraft must navigate the unique security concerns of the U.S. capital.

"I’ve been praying that there wouldn’t be something like last night but kind of dreading in my heart that there would be," he told reporters.

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Trevor Hunnicutt, Bo Erickson, Jeff Mason, Gabriella Borter, Jamie Freed, Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Susan Heavey, Kanishka Singh, Jasper Ward, Rami Ayyub and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Joseph Ax in New York; Rich McKay in Atlanta; Brad Brooks in Colorado; Joe Brock and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Writing by Andy Sullivan, Brad Brooks and Timothy Heritage; Editing by Ross Colvin, Gerry Doyle, Peter Graff, Alex Richardson and Nick Zieminski)