Chicago – January 31, 2025
No survivors are expected after a passenger plane collided in midair with a helicopter near Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan airport on Wednesday evening.
The plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew when it crashed into the Potomac River after the collision. The helicopter had three people on board, who were labelled a “fairly experienced crew” by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Figure skaters from the US and Russia were among passengers on the aeroplane, according to officials from US Figure Skating and a club in Boston.
Authorities searching the freezing waters say they have switched to a recovery operation.
At about 21:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, a PSA Airlines jet operating as American Airlines 5342 collided with a US Army helicopter as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The passenger plane broke into multiple pieces and sunk several feet into the river, while the helicopter ended up upside down on the water.
The plane, a Bombardier CRJ700, departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was carrying 60 passengers and four crew, American Airlines said.
