WASHINGTON DC (AP) — A collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C, killed 67 people, including more than a dozen figure skaters. The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members at the time of the crash late Wednesday. Three soldiers were on board the […]
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Collision between passenger jet and Army helicopter near DC leaves no survivors
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WASHINGTON DC (AP) — A collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C, killed 67 people, including more than a dozen figure skaters. The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members at the time of the crash late Wednesday. Three soldiers were on board the helicopter.
President Donald Trump said at a briefing Thursday that there were no survivors.
The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River. There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas.
U.S. Figure Skating previously confirmed that several skaters, coaches and family members were on the commercial flight after attending a development camp that followed the national championships that ended Sunday in Wichita.
Here’s the latest:
The Army has seen an increase in major aviation accidents in recent years
The Army saw 15 flight and two ground Class A incidents in fiscal year 2024, according to safety data obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act and a January 2025 Army aviation safety report.
Class A incidents are any aviation accident that results in the destruction of the aircraft, deaths of service members or more than $2.5 million in damage to the airframe.
In a briefing with Pentagon reporters Thursday, Army aviation Chief of Staff Jonathan Koziol said the spike in incidents last year had prompted the Army to do a safety stand-down, in which units pause flight operations to evaluate safety procedures “to not allow these types of incidents to happen,” Koziol said.
Trump signs an aviation order rolling back federal diversity initiatives
He says the presidential memorandum on aviation safety will undo “damage” done to related federal agencies by the Biden administration.
The president singled out policies meant to promote diversity and inclusion by the Biden White House and of the administrations of other Democrats, saying, “What they’ve done is disgraceful.”
Signing the memorandum in the Oval Office, Trump repeated his past assertions that federal diversity programs could have contributed to a helicopter and a regional jet colliding near Washington, D.C.
He said the memorandum can help ensure that “we have very strong people running” key aviation agencies.
President of air traffic controllers union says they ‘cannot comment on the specifics’ of the crash
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, wrote in a statement that “it would be premature to speculate on the root cause of this accident.”
“We will wait for the National Transportation Safety Board to complete its work and use that information to help guide decisions and changes to enhance and improve aviation safety,” he continued.
Daniels also offered condolences for those affected by “the tragic loss of life.”
NTSB chair says investigators will look at ‘facts’
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Thursday at a press conference that “we look at facts on our investigation and that will take some time.”
She was responding to a question on speculation about the cause of the crash.
At a press conference earlier Thursday, Trump suggested that the Federal Aviation Administration’s diversity efforts had made air travel less safe.
Homendy also said the black boxes from the aircraft have not been recovered yet.
Attorney says airport’s crowded space is well-known fact
The crowded airspace around the airport was well known before the crash, said Robert Clifford, an aviation attorney from Chicago involved in numerous airline disaster cases.
“I can’t get over how stunningly clear it is that this was a preventable crash and this should never, ever have occurred,” Clifford told The Associated Press.
“There have been discussions for some time about the congestion associated with that and the potential for disaster. And we saw it come home last night,” Clifford said.
He said the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was “very unique” as it is not only located near the nation’s capital but also is a highly restricted space.
“However, because of the massive military presence in our capital, the Pentagon and a number of bases, there’s understandably a lot of military aircraft in the area.”
Army: Crew of Blackhawk that crashed was ‘very experienced’
The crew that was flying the Army Blackhawk helicopter when it collided with an American Airlines jet was “very experienced” and were not new to the unit or the congested flying that occurs daily around Washington, D.C.
That is according to Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation.
“Both pilots had flown this specific route before, at night. This wasn’t something new to either one of them,” Koziol said.
“Even the crew chief in the back has been in the unit for a very long time, very familiar with the area, very familiar with the routing structure.”
The crew included an instructor pilot and pilot in command were experienced to the point where either crew member “could manage that helicopter by themselves.”
All three military personnel on board were killed in the midair collision between their helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet late Wednesday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just outside Washington, D.C.
Bodies of 3 Army soldiers recovered
The bodies of all three soldiers who were on board an Army helicopter involved in a midair collision have been recovered. That is according to U.S. officials.
Officials said Thursday that the remains will be at Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. That office coordinates the dignified transfer of fallen service members. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet announced. No identities of the crew have been released.
They were killed in midair collision with an American Airlines passenger jet late Wednesday near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of Washington, D.C. There were 64 people on board the jet and officials say all of them were killed in the crash.
By Lolita C. Baldor
Flights resume at Reagan National after deadly midair collision
Flights resumed at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of Washington, D.C., shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday. But many flights had been canceled, and airport information boards were covered in red cancellation messages. Other flights were delayed until late morning or afternoon.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, who was sworn in earlier this week, was asked if he could reassure Americans that the United States still has the safest airspace in the world.
“Can I guarantee the American flying public that the United States has the most safe and secure airspace in the world? And the answer to that is, absolutely yes, we do,” he said.
Likely the deadliest plane crash in a quarter-century
If all 64 people on board the plane were killed, it would be the deadliest U.S. airline crash since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport, killing all 260 people aboard.
Passengers on Wednesday’s flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.