What we know about the American Airlines plane and the Army Helicopter crash over DC’s Potomac River

Short staff may have played role in DC airline accident and more headlines

A passenger jet and a black hawk -helicopter collided in Midair Wednesday and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC President Trump confirmed Thursday that there were no survivors. Many of the victims have not yet been identified in public.

The aircraft, American Eagle Flight No. 5342, a regional jetlin, carried 60 passengers and four crew on a Wichita flight, Kansas. There were three soldiers aboard the US Army Sikorsky H-60, an official in the Defense Ministry of CBS News told.

At least 40 organs had been recovered from Thursday night, a law enforcement source told CBS News.

District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly said earlier that the efforts on stage had switched from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

Here’s what we know so far about the crash:

What happened?

American Eagle Flight No. 5342, run by PSA Airlines, collided Midair with a Sikorsky H-60 ​​helicopter around 10 pm. 21 Wednesday, while approaching a runway in Reagan National Airport, FAA said. The plane was taken off from Wichita, Kansas.

American Eagle and PSA Airlines are subsidiaries of American Airlines.

The helicopter involved in the collision was on a training flight and had belonged to B Company, 12.

An air traffic management worker administered helicopters and some flights from Reagan National Airport Tower at the time of the collision, a job usually performed by two people, says two sources CBS News.

A livestream camera in the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, caught the moment of the collision. The video, verified by CBS News, shows an explosion in the area of ​​the Potomac River at 1 p.m. 20.47 East.

What we know about the search operation

DC Fire and EMS chief John Donnelly told journalists in a news briefing on Thursday morning that 27 bodies had been regained from the aircraft and one from the helicopter.

He said, “We don’t think there are any survivors,” the efforts on stage have changed from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

“It’s a very complex operation, the conditions out there are extremely rough for the respondents. It’s cold. They have to do with relatively windy conditions,” Donnelly said.

CBS News Senior Transportation and national correspondent Kris van Cleave reported that human remains and waste washes up on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.

He said the plane broke into several pieces sitting in 5-8 feet of water.

The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, commonly known as black boxes, have been recovered from the decomposed aircraft, NTSB confirmed. They will be analyzed at the NTSB laboratory, which is about one kilometer from the scene of the accident.

Divers have had some access to the aircraft’s cabin. Luggage is among different divers has recovered.

The helicopter is upside down, but seems to be mostly intact, van Cleave added.

What we know about the victims of aircraft accidents

Top Figure crates from Russia and USA – including 6 people With ribbons to the skating club in Boston – was among the victims. Athletes Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, their mothers Jin Han and Christine Lane, and skating Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were all aboard the flight, said Doug Zeghibe, Skating Club’s CEO and CEO. They returned from the National Development Camp, which was held in connection with the recent US art skating races in Wichita.

Spencer Lane’s father, Rhode Island -Beboer Douglas Lane, told CBS AFFILATE WPRI His 16-year-old son was a “strength of nature” that picked up art skating just three years ago and moved on quickly. Douglas Lane described his wife, Christine, as a caring and creative person who distinguished himself in graphic design, photography and quilting.

Naumov and Shishkova, a pair, are Russian -born figure treasurers who won the World Cup in the world’s art skating and had coached in the club. They shared a son, Maxim Naumov, who is a competitive skater on Team USA. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously confirmed that Naumov and Shishkova were on the plane with other Russian citizens.

Another victim in the crash, Asra Hussain Raza, had recently moved to Washington, DC, for a consultancy position and returned home from a work trip when the collision took place, her father -in -law, Hashim Raza, told CBS News. The 26-year-old was a candidate from the University of Indiana and Columbia University, her father-in-law said.

Four members of a Maryland-based Workers Union, Steamfitters United Association Local 602, were also on the plane, said union leaders In a social media post Thursday. The Union represents heating, air conditioning, cooling and process tube industries in the DC Metro area.

The crew manager for the helicopter was identified as 29-year-old Ryan O’Hara, learned CBS News on Thursday. O’Hara was a man and father of a 1-year-old son, said his local reserve officers’ Training Corps program in a social media post about his death.

Politicians respond to the crash

President Trump approached the crash During a briefing in the White House on Thursday morning, confirming that there were no survivors.

“I’m talking to you this morning about an hour’s anguish for our nation,” Mr. Trump.

He also criticized the Biden administration and attacked diversity initiatives, but offered no evidence connecting the former president’s policy to the crash.

Mr. Trump, who claimed he had increased the standards for those working in the aviation industry, announced that he had appointed Christopher Rocheleau to acting commissioner for the few. Mr. Trump said the investigation of the collision is going on and “we have some pretty good ideas” about what caused it.

In a previous statement, the president said, “Thank you for the incredible work done by our first respondents. I monitor the situation and will give more details when they arise.”

And in a truth social post, he questioned what led up to the crash and wrote: “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. Not good !!!”

The recently confirmed defense secretary Pete Hegeth wrote on social media that the Pentagon is actively monitoring the situation and “was ready to help if necessary.”

Kansas Senator Roger Marshall said in a statement, “Tonight we received devastating news of what can only be described as nothing less than a nightmare … my prayer is that God wraps his arms around every single victim and that he continues to be with their families.

Alexandria, Virginia, Mayor Alyia Gaskins said on social media, “Earlier tonight we were destroyed to learn about a tragic aviation event near DCA. Our prayers are with everyone affected. Our fire, police and emergency staff help with the regional response.” Alexandria is located just south of Reagan Washington National Airport.

Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia acknowledged “There are many questions” about the deadly collision in its demand.

“You can’t tell much from video footage taken at night, but the recordings are raising a lot of questions about how this happened,” Kain told “CBS MORNING” Thursday.

The first major US commercial crash of nearly 16 years

The Last major US commercial air accidents took place in February 2009, when a Continental Airlines flight out of Newark, New Jersey, powered by Colgan Air crashed into a house as it approached the airport in Buffalo, New York. This aircraft was a bombardier Q400. 42 people died in the tragedy. Continental merged with United Airlines in 2010.

The last major US airline accident took place in November 2001 near John F. Kennedy International Airport. American Airlines Flight No. 587, an Airbus A300, crashed shortly after the start and killed 265 people. It was tied to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The plane crashed into the Belle Harbor area of ​​Rockaways in New York City Borough of Queens.

Kathryn KrupnikAt

Rhona TarrantKris van Cleave, James Laporta and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.