Passenger aircraft and helicopter crash into the river after the middle of the air in DC | Us news

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A search and rescue operation is underway after a passenger aircraft and a military helicopter crashed over a larger river in Washington DC.

American Airlines Flight, with 60 passengers and four crews on board, landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when in the middle of the air took place.

The US Army’s Black Hawk helicopter had three soldiers on board.

Both aircraft dropped into the Potomac River as the rescue herds continue to search.

Washington Crash LAST: Follow Updates as the rescue continues

Arlington, Virginia - January 30: (Editors Note: Image contains graphic content) Emergency Response Teams including Washington, DC Fire and EMS, DC Police and others, Asses Airplane Wreckage in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 In Arlington, Virginia. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, collided by a helicopter as he approached Ronald Reagan National Airport. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Pic: Getty

PIC: Andrew Harnik/Getty Arlington, Virginia -30 January: (editors Note: Image contains graphic content) Emergency Response -Teams including Washington, DC Fire and EMS, DC Police and others, according to flight wrecks in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, collided by a helicopter as he approached Ronald Reagan National Airport. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Emergency persons in the Potomac River. Pic: Andrew Harnik/Getty


There are several fatalities, according to a source cited by Associated Press News Agency, despite officials at a news conference that does not advertise any death.

American art skating, the national governing body of sports in the United States, said in a statement that several members of its ice skating were on the passenger plane.

It said that athletes and coaches returned from the national development camp in Kansas.

“We are destroyed by this indescribable tragedy and keep the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” the statement states.

Washington Plane Crash Map

About 300 respondents, inflatable boats and several helicopters are used as part of the search and rescue operation.

Washington DC brand manager John Donnelly said the operation is “very complex” due to “extremely rough conditions”.

He said that hypothermia is a concern for any survivors and first respondents as it is currently cold and windy.

Pic: Andrew Harnik/Getty Arlington, Virginia -January 30: Emergency Response -Teams including Washington, DC Fire and EMS, DC Police and others, Response to Helicopter Vragon in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, collided by a helicopter as he approached Ronald Reagan National Airport. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Pic: Andrew Harnik/Getty


In a statement late Wednesday, US President Donald Trump thanked the first respondents for their “incredible work” and said he “monitored the situation and will give more details when they arise”.

He added, “May God bless their souls.”

Vice President JD Vance also called for supporters on social media to “say a prayer for everyone involved”.

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‘I need you to land’ – sound from crash

Kansas Senator Roger Marshall added that “When a person dies, it is a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it is an unbearable grief”.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport would be closed until at least 16:00 UK time.

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Fire Manager Updates on Rescue Operation After Cut

The agency said that in the middle of the air took place around 1 p.m. 21 local time when a regional jet who had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with the military helicopter who was on a training flight while on an approach to an airport track.

It occurred in some of the most closely controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the US capital.

Read more:
Washington Plane Crash: What we know so far

In sound from the air traffic control tower around the crashed time, a controller is heard asking the helicopter: “Pat25 you have crj in sight”, citing the passenger aircraft.

“Tower, did you see that?” Another pilot is heard and says seconds after the apparent collision.

The US Army and the Defense Ministry have begun a study of the crash.

Pete Hegeth, who was sworn in as a defense secretary only days ago, said it had started “immediately”.

The last major crash that involved a commercial aircraft in the United States was in 2009 when all 49 people aboard a Colgan Air died when it crashed into the New York State.