Following the mid-air collision over the Potomac River in Washington, authorities have announced that they no longer expect to find any survivors. Efforts have now shifted to a recovery mission, according to DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly, as reported by CNN.
A press briefing was held at Reagan National Airport, where Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed the deadly collision involving an American Airlines passenger plane carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board.
“We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” Donnelly said during a news conference on Thursday.
Donnelly confirmed that recovery teams had retrieved 28 bodies from the passenger jet and one from the military helicopter.
He further stated that officials are confident in recovering the bodies of those killed in the crash. He confirmed that all 67 people—64 aboard the passenger jet and three on the US Army Black Hawk helicopter—are believed to have died.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy provided an update on the wreckage, explaining that the American Airlines jet, which crashed into the Potomac River following the collision, had broken into multiple pieces. He noted that the aircraft’s fuselage had been found overturned and split into three sections, submerged in waist-deep water, with recovery operations ongoing.
“The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was inverted. It’s been located in three different sections. It’s in about waist-deep water, so that recovery is going to go on today,” Duffy said.
“As that recovery takes place, the NTSB will begin analyzing the aircraft and will work with the FAA to gather all available information to ensure the best possible outcome for the American people,” he added.
During the press conference, the CEO of American Airlines appeared to suggest that the military helicopter was responsible for the collision.
“At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,” said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, as reported by CNN.
The collision, which occurred near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, resulted in both aircraft crashing into the Potomac River.
The aircraft involved in the incident were American Airlines Flight 5342, a regional jet with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training mission. The flight had departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was approaching the airport when it collided with the helicopter. The three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk were also confirmed dead. As of the latest reports, the wreckage of both aircraft was found submerged in the icy waters of the Potomac River.
The collision took place at a time when the airport was busy, with 858 flights scheduled to take off and land at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. In the wake of the incident, approximately 19 aircraft that were in the air at the time were diverted to nearby Dulles International Airport, about 20 miles away. The airport was closed, and all flights were grounded for the night, a decision expected to remain in effect until at least 11 a.m. ET Thursday, airport officials confirmed.
The crash sent shockwaves through the local community and beyond, with former President Donald Trump offering condolences to the victims’ families, CNN reported.
“This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
(ANI)