recovered (28bodies) from D.C. mid-air plane and helicopter collision; all others presumed dead

CITYnews halifax / By The Associated Press

An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.

First responders have recovered the bodies of 27 passengers from the American Airlines jet that collided with the helicopter.

The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.

Officials said they were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any other survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.

Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.

Passengers on the American Airlines flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp held after the national U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.

The organization said “several members of our skating community” were on the flight but didn’t provide more details.

“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” the organization said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available,” it added.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair collision occurred around 9 p.m. EST when American Airlines 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, smashed into a military Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to an airport runway.

According to data from its radio transponder, the Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet was at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it rapidly lost altitude over the Potomac River.

Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, “PAT 25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” in reference to the passenger aircraft. The controller makes another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collide.

“Tower, did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.”

The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan.

Multiple helicopters, including those from the U.S. Park Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. military, were flying over the scene of the incident in the Potomac River. D.C. Fire and EMS said on X that fireboats were on the scene.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it will lead the investigation, along with the FAA. Investigators will try to piece together the aircraft’s final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says President Donald Trump has been briefed on the crash.

The incident recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.

The last fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

Reagan Washington National is located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. It’s a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.