American Airlines Airline Crass with Back Hawk in DC: What we know so far | Airline news
Several people are said to have been killed after the American Airlines’s plane collided with a military helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan Washington’s national airport near the Columbia district.
American Airlines said on Thursday that 60 passengers and four crew members were on a jet -traveled jet from Wichita to Kansas to the US capital.
An unnamed military official confirmed that a helicopter, on a training flight, wore three soldiers who took off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River after the collision. They were launched to inflatable ships, and rescuers used light towers to light up the site.
Washington, head of firefighting firefighters, John Donnelly, said it was a “very complex operation”.
“The conditions are extremely rough there for respondents.”
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser also said at a press conference at the airport that they were underway to rescue to “recovery fellow citizens”.
Here’s all we know about the fall:
What happened and when?
Around 9:00 pm Local Time (02:00 GMT), an entrance aircraft of the American Airlines (Let 5342), which was produced by the Canadian company Bombardier, collided with the Sikorsky Black Hawk army helicopter, as it approached the Ronald Reagan Airport, located along the Potomac River River Southwest of DC.
Before the scheduled landing, the air traffic controllers asked the pilots if they could land on the runway 33, and the flight tracking places showed that the pilots had adapted the flight path to match the request.
Less than 30 seconds before the collision, the air traffic controller asked a military helicopter if he could see the plane coming.
“Pat25 [army helicopter]Do you have a crj [American Airlines plane] In sight? Pat25, go behind CRJ, “said air traffic controller at 20:47 (ET on Wednesday, 01:47 GMT on Thursday).
At the time of the collision, air traffic controllers were heard, saying: “Dissolving, collision, collision, this is a warning three.”
“I just saw a fiery ball and then it just left. I didn’t see anything since they hit the river. But that hit the CRJ and a helicopter,” said another controller.
Pictures from a collision in Mirair, caught on a webcam in the center of John F Kennedy for performing arts in Washington, DC, showed that two aircraft exploded in flames and invaded the Potomac River.
Metropolitan Washington Airport Executive, John Potter, said the airport would remain closed until at least 11 hours of local time (16:00 GMT).
What do we know about victims?
The governing body of skating said that several of the 60 passengers on the plane were American skates, family members and coaches returning from the camp after a skating competition. Three people were believed to be soldiers on the helicopter.
CBS News, citing a law enforcement officer who is familiar with the investigation, said that at least 30 people had been recovered. The US government officials did not mention anything about survivors.
The Russian State News Agency Tass reported that among the fallen former worldwide champions of Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
Kremlin expressed condolences to the families of Russian casualties.
“There were other of our fellow citizens on board. Today, these are bad news from Washington. We are sorry and send condolences to families and friends,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to reporters.
Although the official number of deaths was not published, American senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, where the flight came from, suggested that the majority, if not all, was killed on board.
“It’s really hard when you lose more than 60 Kansan at the same time,” he said at a press conference at Reagan Airport.
Dan Depodwin, senior director of Accuweather for forecasts, told Reuters news agency that the hypothermia care about anyone who survived the collision after the plane fell into the river.
“At these frigid water temperatures, the temperature of the human body drops quickly. Exhaustion or unconsciousness can occur in just 15 to 30 minutes,” Depodwin said.
What is Black Hawk helicopter?
Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter is a military transport aircraft used by the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
Aerospace Company Intergalactic said the aircraft could carry four crew members and “11 to 14 completely armed troops … or up to 20 lightly equipped passengers”.
What did officials say?
President Donald Trump has questioned the procedures of military helicopter in the Social Truth Post.
“The helicopter went straight to the plane for a long time. It’s a clear night, the lights on the plane were crying, why the helicopter didn’t go up or down or turn,” Trump wrote.
“Why didn’t the control tower say to 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 !!!”, he added.
Defense Minister Pete Hegsetth wrote on X that the army and the Ministry of Defense would be launched by an investigation “immediately” in the cause of the incident.
Todd Curtis, Executive Director of the Airsafe.com consulting company, told Al Jazeera that the collision was “very unusual”.
“The Washington National Airport, where this event happened, is one of the most prominent in the country and is very well managed by air control,” said Curtis, a former Boeing Air Force Engineer.
“It’s surprising to me that something that a routine for the army has somehow ended up in the tragedy. I suppose there are a few things that had to go wrong to happen,” he added.
