ARLINGTON, Va.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A jet with 60 passengers and 4 crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Military helicopter whereas touchdown at Ronald Reagan Nationwide Airport close to Washington, prompting a big search-and-rescue operation within the close by Potomac River.
There was no fast phrase on casualties or the reason for the collision, however all takeoffs and landings from the airport close to Washington have been halted as helicopters from legislation enforcement businesses throughout the area flew over the scene looking for survivors. Inflatable rescue boats have been launched into the Potomac River from some extent close to the airport alongside the George Washington Parkway, simply north of the airport.
President Donald Trump stated he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”
The Federal Aviation Administration stated the midair crash occurred round 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a army Blackhawk helicopter whereas on strategy to an airport runway. It occurred in among the most tightly managed and monitored airspace on this planet, simply over three miles south of the White Home and the Capitol.
Investigators will attempt to piece collectively the aircrafts’ ultimate moments earlier than their collision, together with contact with air visitors controllers in addition to a lack of altitude by the passenger jet.
American Airways flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan Nationwide at an altitude of about 400 ft and a velocity of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a fast lack of altitude over the Potomac River, based on information from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet was manufactured in 2004 and might be configured to hold as much as 70 passengers.
A couple of minutes earlier than touchdown, air visitors controllers requested the coming business jet if it might land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan Nationwide and the pilots stated they have been in a position. Controllers then cleared the aircraft to land on Runway 33. Flight monitoring websites confirmed the aircraft alter its strategy to the brand new runway.
Lower than 30 seconds earlier than the crash, an air visitors controller asks the helicopter if it has the coming aircraft in sight. The controller makes one other radio name to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that the 2 plane collide.
The aircraft’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 ft in need of the runway, roughly over the center of the river.
The tower instantly started diverting different plane from Reagan.
Video from an commentary digital camera on the close by Kennedy Heart confirmed two units of lights in keeping with plane showing to hitch in a fireball.
The crash is serving as a serious check for 2 of the Trump administration’s latest company leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days in the past as protection secretary, posted on social media that his division was “actively monitoring” the scenario that concerned an Military helicopter. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, simply sworn in earlier this week, stated in a social media submit that he was “at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation.”
Reagan Nationwide is situated alongside the Potomac River, simply southwest of town. It’s a well-liked alternative as a result of it’s a lot nearer than the bigger Dulles Worldwide Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.
Relying on the runway getting used, flights into Reagan can provide passengers spectacular views of landmarks just like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Nationwide Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for vacationers visiting town.
The incident recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 folks. That crash was attributed to dangerous climate.
The final deadly crash involving a U.S. business airline occured in 2009 close to Buffalo, New York. Everybody aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller aircraft was killed, together with 45 passengers, 2 pilots and a pair of flight attendants. One other particular person on the bottom additionally died, bringing the full dying toll to 50. An investigation decided that the captain by chance triggered the aircraft to stall because it approached the airport in Buffalo.
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Related Press writers Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp And Eric Tucker, The Related Press
