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All 67 people are believed to have been killed after an American Airlines flight collided with a US military chopper in Washington. US President Donald Trump said the crash could have been prevented.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed grief over the mid-air collision that has likely killed 67 people. (Reuters)
All 64 people aboard the American Airlines Flight 5342 are believed to have been killed after the plane collided with a US Black Hawk helicopter carrying three personnel over the Potomac river in Washington, the deadliest aviation disaster since an American Airlines flight crashed in November 2001, killing over 260 people.
So far, 28 bodies have been recovered from the river, with officials saying there are likely no survivors from the devastating collision. “We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly.
Meanwhile, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom seemed to place blame on the military helicopter for the mid-air collision. “At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,” he said on Thursday.
Isom also stressed that the two pilots aboard the flight were not newcomers to complex commercial flight. “These are experienced pilots,” he said. “I know that the captain had … almost six years with PSA (Airlines), and the first officer almost two years.”
A massive search and rescue operation was launched into the waters of the Potomac River, soon after the crash was reported. Reagan Airport aborted all takeoffs and landings as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.
An expert told CNN that any investigation must determine why Black Hawk did not maintain “visual separation” from the airplane. “It’s very clear, looking at the flight paths of the aircraft and the radio transmissions, that the Black Hawk was asked to maintain visual separation from Flight 5342 for some reason –– and we don’t know that reason,” said Tony Stanton from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Mid-Air Crash ‘Absolutely Preventable’
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the mid-air collision between the American Airlines jet and the US Army Black Hawk chopper was “absolutely preventable”, adding that both flights were on their respective “standard flight pattern”.
“This was a standard fight pattern last night as well,” he said at a press conference. “The American Airline flight coming in to land was in a standard flight pattern as it was coming into DCA, so this was not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA.”
“We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but … what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” he added. His remarks echoed similar statements made by US President Donald Trump, who said the crash was a “bad situation that looks like it should have prevented.”
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
Reagan Airport To Open Despite Search Ops
The Bombardier plane operated by an American Airlines subsidiary, with 60 passengers and four crew on board, was approaching Reagan National Airport at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT) after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.
US Army officials said the helicopter involved was a Black Hawk carrying three soldiers on a “training flight.”Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River and the fuselage of the passenger jet was inverted and broken into three sections.
Later, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan National. Jack Potter, CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said it would be safe to reopen the Reagan Airport at 11 am on Thursday (local time) even as the wreckage of the aircraft is still being recovered.
Officials have expressed confidence that all bodies will be recovered. Donnelly said 300 first responders had been involved in the operation — most of it conducted in pitch darkness.
(With agency inputs)
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
