After an American Airlines plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair near the Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC, a large-scale search operation is underway. The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday night, which claimed 18 lives. The law enforcement sources say no survivors have been recovered from the river so far, news agency ANI reports. American Airlines Flight 5342, a regional jet, which departed from Wichita, Kansas, had 60 passengers and four crew members on board. While it was approaching the airport, it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter, which was on a training mission. Three soldiers aboard the helicopter have also been confirmed dead.
Planes diverted to nearby Dulles International Airport following crash
When the collision occurred, the airport was reported to be busy, with 858 flights scheduled to take off and land at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Following the crash, approximately 19 aircraft that were in the air at the time were diverted to nearby Dulles International Airport, about 20 miles away from Reagan National.
President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred around 9 p.m. EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway. It occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.
Investigators will try to piece together the aircraft’s final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.
What does the radio transponder data say?
American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.
(With inputs from agencies)
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