All passengers aboard the American Airlines plane and the U.S. Army helicopter were killed in a midair collision that occurred Wednesday night near Reagan National Airport.
The American Airlines CRJ700, carrying 64 people, including four crew members, plunged into the icy waters of the Potomac River after colliding with a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Runway 33.
The helicopter was carrying three service members on a training mission from Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
By Thursday morning, recovery teams had retrieved 27 bodies from the wreckage of the plane and one from the helicopter, according to emergency responders. Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly announced that rescue efforts had transitioned into a recovery operation. “This morning, we all share a profound sense of grief,” said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, as reported by The New York Times.
The American Airlines flight had departed from Wichita, Kansas, at approximately 6:20 p.m. Eastern Time. Among those on board were figure skaters traveling to the national championships, including Russian competitors, according to the Kremlin.
Federal investigators have begun examining the cause of the collision, though initial reports indicate no apparent anomalies in the moments leading up to the crash. “The night was clear, and both aircraft were on normal flight paths,” explained U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. Duffy also stated that no communication failures had been reported between the aircraft and the control tower. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom added that the airline’s pilot was highly experienced.
The impact scattered debris across an area of less than a mile, with the fuselage of the plane breaking into three sections in waist-deep water, authorities reported.
This tragedy marks one of the first major crises for the newly inaugurated Trump administration. It occurred a day after Duffy took office as transportation secretary and during Pete Hegseth’s first week as defense secretary. President Trump quickly took to social media, calling the crash “a bad situation that should have been prevented.” He later stated that he had been “fully briefed” on the incident, according to the New York Times.
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of the crash, and recovery efforts are ongoing to locate all victims.