Live updates: Plane crashes into Potomac River after collision with helicopter near Reagan National Airport
By: NBC News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Updated By NBC News
What we know
- An American Airlines regional jet collided midair with a helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
- One or both of the aircraft may be in the Potomac River, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
- A search-and-rescue operation is underway on the river, officials said.
D.C. area airport collision caught on camera
NBC News
An American Airlines regional jet collided with a helicopter as it approached a runway at Reagan Airport at around 9 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
"A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time," the agency said.
"PSA was operating Flight 5342 as American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas,'" the FAA said.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, the FAA said, with the NTSB taking the lead.
American Arlines says it is aware of reports of crash
"We're aware of reports that American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, with service from Wichita, Kansas (ICT) to Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) has been involved in an incident," American Airlines said in a statement on X. "We will provide information as it becomes available."
Search and rescue operation underway
NBC News
Several agencies are coordinating a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River after multiple calls about an aircraft crash, the Metropolitan Police Department and D.C. Fire and EMS said in a statement.
The calls came in at 8:53 p.m., the statement said.
"There is no confirmed information on casualties at this time," the statement said.
Trump briefed on situation
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the crash involving a regional jet and a helicopter, the White House press office said tonight.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on FOX News that the administrations' thoughts and prayers are with all those involved.
"We ask the public in this area to please stand by for guidance from law enforcement and allow them to do their jobs as they attempt to save lives," Leavitt said.
Airport halts all takeoffs and landings
The airport, located in Arlington, Virginia, halted all takeoffs and landings, saying emergency officials were responding "to an aircraft incident on the airfield."
Washington's Metropolitan Police Department said that it was also responding to "an apparent air crash in the Potomac River" and that multiple agencies were responding.
Plane crashes into Potomac River after collision with helicopter
An American Airlines regional jet inbound to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is believed to have collided with a helicopter near the airport, a source familiar with the situation told NBC News.
"Confirmed small aircraft down in Potomac River vicinity Reagan National Airport. Fireboats on scene," Washington's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said on X shortly after 9 p.m.
Plane was coming from Kansas
Authorities did not identify the aircraft or where it was coming from in public statements on social media, but a U.S. senator from Kansas said it was from his state.
"Learning that a plane inbound from Kansas was involved in a crash at DCA," Sen. Jerry Moran, using the initials that refer to Reagan National Airport, said on X. "I am in contact with authorities. Please join me in praying for all involved."
The other senator representing Kansas, Roger Marshall, said on X: "I've seen the reports of a collision with a D.C. helicopter and an inbound flight from Wichita, KS."
"We are in contact with authorities working to get answers. We ask you to join us in prayer for every single passenger and their families," Marshall wrote.
A source with knowledge of the situation said the jet was inbound from Wichita.
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A small regional commercial jet and a Blackhawk helicopter have collided in midair over Washington, DC.
hard to believe they're saying that there were 4 survivors already rescued from the potomac ...
Yes. They're talking about how badly hypothermia will affect the ability of passengers to survive. At current water temps, hypothermia would start at 15 minutes. This happened over an hour ago.
And searching for survivors in water while it's dark is going to be difficult.
It's also really windy here right now, so search and rescue helicopters will have a tough time.
it's looking pretty grim for any more survivors.
Yes. Over 2 hours in near-freezing water by now. And that's assuming they survived the initial impact.
Arvo....was thinking there could be quite a few survivors but I forgot about the freezing conditions and it's dark there...
The survivors maybe all from the helicopter easier to get out of that than a plane...
Going to be very grim news with the outcome...🥀🥀
as fast as that river looks like it's moving, I'll be shocked if they can recover all those that were killed.
keep in mind that after the collision both aircraft probably fell more than a few hundred feet into the river. it seems to me the copter's rotor blades would hit the plane first, then the copter, which all reports have said split the plane in two, and that all passengers and crew would have their seat belts on during a landing procedure. the military copter is a passenger version with the flight crew members up front in the cockpit that was reported to be on a training flight. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that some of the plane passengers were killed by the copter, the following explosion, or possibly fell out the plane when it broke apart in the air. initial reports are that there were 4 survivors, but I'll believe it when it's been verified.
They are reporting here no survivors have been rescued..
I don't think there will be any now unfortunately...
Feel for the families and friends of the lost souls...🥀🥀
Sixty passengers and 4 crew on the jet.
Three people aboard the Blackhawk.
From a video of the collision, it appears the Blackhawk hit the right side of the jet. The video is toward the end of the article below.
Reports of a Serious Aviation Accident at Reagan National Airport Tonight
The Black Hawk is following the river bank at a prescribed altitude and in contact with Air Traffic Control.
More or less in a southbound direction.
The Bombardier is travelling north and descending into a left hand turn of about 45 degrees to line up with Reagan runway #1
about a mile away. The captain would be fixated on the runway lights; the copilot would be double checking instruments.
Several witnesses described the small explosion from the Bombardier which then rolled over with a "shower of sparks coming from a long gash" in the belly of the plane.
The Bombardier has a central fuel tank and an aft tank.
An air traffic controller described the radar signature of the helicopter as going straight down after contact close to the rivers edge while the plane, out of control, landed in the middle of the Potomac approximately a half mile away.
Either the Army BH was too high, not likely as they were talking to ATC at the time,
or the American AirlIne plane was descending too quickly and below his altitude for that approach corridor.
Either way...its just a matter of blame now.
It's a matter of which air traffic controller screwed up and I'm pretty sure that was known in that instant.
The plane was descending and the BH was too high.
The "training mission" was using night vision.
probably not the environment for training.
Anyway, the Army and air traffic will take the heat.
The Helo was directed to pass behind the jet by ATC
flying thru the glide path of the busiest runway in the US ...
Update from Bloomberg:
Update from Bloomberg:
This is from link in their Evening Briefing Newsletter (newsletter via email)
What a tragedy.
This instantly reminded me of the plane that went into the Potomac in the early 80s, and the video of that poor woman splashing around in the freezing water, blinded by jet fuel in her eyes. Someone on the shore jumped in to rescue her. Only a handful survived. That was in January, too.
***
Just found a video. The blinded woman was Priscilla Tirado, and the guy who jumped in was Lenny Skutnik. That whole ordeal was something that got burned into my memory at a time when we didn't see video of tragedies on TV everyday. The Challenger disaster was another.
That's heart-wrenching.
I remember watching that live on TV ...
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