All 64 people aboard an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter were feared dead in what was likely to be the worst US aviation disaster in almost a quarter century, officials said on Thursday.
At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the midair collision Wednesday night when the helicopter apparently flew in the path of the jet as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said.
Rescuers were still searching for any sign of the 60 passengers and four crew members, but they did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest US air crash in nearly 24 years.
“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation's capital. “We don't believe there are any 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. Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with US and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.
“On final approach into Reagan National it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. "At this time, we don't know why the military aircraft came into the path of the ... aircraft.” Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter during a training flight, an Army official said.
Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.
Investigators will try to piece together the aircraft's final moments before the collision, including its contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.
Reagan Airport was to reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.
Authorities have early indicators' of what went wrong
The night was clear, the plane and helicopter were both in standard flight patterns and there was standard communication between the aircraft and the tower, Duffy said.
“We have early indicators of what happened here,” Duffy said, though he declined to elaborate pending an investigation.
It is not unusual to have a military aircraft flying the river and an aircraft landing at the airport, he said. Asked if the plane was aware that there was a helicopter in the area, Duffy said the helicopter was aware that there was a plane in the area.
Asked about President Donald Trump suggesting in an overnight social media post that the colli
sion could have been prevented, Duffy said: “From what I've seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not appear at the Thursday morning press conference. He was expected to brief reporters at the Pentagon later.
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