An American Airlines passenger plane landing at Reagan National airport collided with a Blackhawk military helicopter on Wednesday night, with 67 feared dead. The plane had been coming from Kansas, and had just received instructions to change runways, despite previously being cleared to land, when it collided with the helicopter.
The military helicopter had been lifting off from Reagan as the plane came to land. An air traffic controller notified the helicopter of the plane’s landing, as it would intercept the flight path of the helicopter. The helicopter continued moving in the flight path of the plane, causing the collision.
The plane had been carrying 60 passengers and four crew, and the helicopter had three military service members aboard. Both aircraft crashed in the Potomac after, and an active search mission was sent to search for bodies in the river. Quickly it turned into a recovery mission, as the conditions of the crash and waters of the Potomac were deemed too extreme to survive. 27 bodies have been recovered, though many have not been identified yet.
Aboard the plane were several American and Russian figure skaters and coaches coming from a competition and camp held in Wichita, Kansas, as well as four members of the DC HVAC union.
Several public officials have come out with statements grieving the event, including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, and President Donald Trump. “Our prayers are with everyone involved, and we will continue to keep the public updated as more information becomes available” Bowser said.
“It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane, this is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social in reaction to the event.
Trump also later accused diversity and inclusion policies in the Federal Aviation Administration of causing the agency’s failure leading to the crash.
“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” Trump said during a press conference about the collision.
The Transportation secretary said the accident was preventable, and would take actions to prevent future incidents.
“We are going to wait for all the information to come in from, from this vantage point, but to back up what the president said, what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” Transportation secretary Sean Duffy stated.
For now, officials are continuing to search the Potomac for bodies and are attempting to identify them.