An American Airlines regional plane traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National Airport collided with an Army helicopter on a training mission above the Potomac River Wednesday. The crash happened just before 9 p.m. Both of the aircraft plunged into the river.
Crews worked through the night to search for survivors and to pull bodies from the water. Officials said in morning press conference that they believed there were no survivors. The operation will now focus on recovery.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane, American Airlines said. Three U.S. soldiers were on board the Black Hawk helicopter, which was operating out of Fort Belvoir. Video from the nearby Kennedy Center showed the midair crash. It happened at a low altitude as the jet was approaching the airport to land.
Reagan National Airport reopened at 11 a.m. Thursday.
More than 300 first responders from DC, Virginia, and Maryland were working on the search and rescue effort. Water temperatures in the river were about 35 degrees, said NBC4’s Chuck Bell.
Unofficial word of area residents who died in the collision began to trickle out on Thursday. Fairfax County Public Schools and Loudoun County Public Schools released statements about members of their communities that had been impacted.
The plane, American Airlines Flight 5342, carried several members of the U.S. figure skating community. They had attended a development camp held after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita. Russian news agencies reported that retired figure skater Inna Volyanskaya, who has coached for the Ashburn Ice House team since 2017, was among those on board. Skating Club of Boston said Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were pairs world champions in 1994, along with skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane were among those killed. The club’s CEO, Doug Zeghibe, said a total of 14 of the victims were coming back from the camp, the AP reported.
Congestion at Reagan National has long been a cause of concern. The airport’s main runway has been ranked the busiest in the U.S.
A May 2024 FAA reauthorization bill approved additional flights at the airport. Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner opposed the legislation and warned that it could heighten the risk of accidents. Virginia Rep. Don Beyer also spoke out in opposition to the bill.
The crash came only a day after the new transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, was sworn in. President Donald Trump said in a statement on X that he had been “fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
Feature image of rescue efforts in the Potomac River by UPI / Alamy Stock Photo
