All Passengers Feared Dead After Midair Collision Leads to Potomac Crash

WASHINGTON — All passengers and crew aboard an American Eagle flight bound for Reagan International Airport are feared dead after it collided with a military helicopter and both aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River Wednesday night, officials said.

The three-man crew of the Black Hawk helicopter, which had taken off on a training mission only moments before from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is also believed to have been killed, they said.

American Eagle Flight 5342 was in the final moments of its 2 hour, 45 minute flight from Wichita, Kansas, with 60 people aboard when it began its final approach to Reagan International at around 8:40 p.m.

About eight minutes later, an air traffic controller contacted the helicopter and asked the pilot whether he had the approaching commercial plane in sight.

The pilot confirmed he had the plane in sight and requested “visual separation,” an indication he was going to take steps to fly out of the plane’s path.

Seconds later the two aircraft collided over the Potomac at an altitude of approximately 300 feet. A web cam on the Kennedy Center that just happened to be pointed in the direction of the mishap captured the image of a fireball that quickly descended toward the river.

In a statement released by the White House Wednesday night, President Donald Trump said, “I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God bless their souls.”

He went on to thank the first responders on the scene, “for the incredible work being done.”

The crash touched off a massive, multi-agency emergency response, much of it centered near Daingerfield Island and Gravelly Point, off the George Washington Parkway near the airport, but encompassing both shores of the Potomac.

As they began an all-out search for survivors, emergency responders said they were particularly concerned with passengers succumbing to hypothermia.

At the time of the crash, the water temperature in the Potomac River was estimated to be about 35 degrees. Hypothermia occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce heat.

If not treated in a timely fashion, hypothermia can cause the heart and respiratory system to fail and eventually can lead to death.

Compounding the complexity of the operation was the fact that the Potomac is dark and murky in the area where the aircraft went down.

The body of the plane was ultimately found upside down in three sections in about four feet of water. The wreckage of the helicopter was found nearby.

At a Thursday morning press conference, John Donnelly, chief of the District of Columbia Fire Department, said at least 28 bodies had already been pulled from the waters.

“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. We don’t believe there are any survivors,” Donnelly said

If, as is now anticipated, no survivors are found, the crash will be the deadliest incident involving a commercial airliner in the U.S. since a 2009 crash in Buffalo, New York, that left 45 passengers and four crew members dead.

American Eagle is a regional subsidiary of American Airlines. In a video statement, American Airlines CEO Robert Eisen expressed the airline’s “deep sorrow” about the events that unfolded Wednesday night. 

“This is a difficult day for all of us at American Airlines, and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, partners, first responders, along with their families and loved ones,” Eisen said.

“We are actively working with local, state and federal authorities on emergency response efforts activated to assist our passengers and their families,” he continued. “We’re cooperating fully with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation, and will continue to provide all the information we can. 

“Our cooperation is without pause, and we want to learn everything we can about today’s events. That work will take time, but anything we can do now, we’re doing, and right now that means focusing on taking care of all passengers and crew involved, as well as their families,” Eisen said.

He also announced the airline had set up a special information line for family and friends of those involved in the crash to call. That number is  1-800-679-8215. 

U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement that several of its members were aboard the passenger jet.

This group included athletes, coaches, and family members who were returning home from a national development camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

During a press briefing at Reagan National Airport, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said she and “certainly all Washingtonians” have been saddened by the loss of life that resulted from the mid-air collision.

“We know [these losses] include families from across our region, as well as in Kansas and across the country,” Bowser said. 

“I do want to thank the first responders who acted quickly last night, who ran towards danger, went into a very frigid river, and have worked throughout the night,” she continued. “We have a strong mutual aid agreement in our region, and those teams have worked together throughout the night in really tough and heartbreaking conditions. 

“We should all thank them for their heroic efforts,” the mayor added.

All flights to and from Reagan International Airport were halted after the crash, and that stoppage is expected to remain in place until at least 11 a.m. Thursday morning. The terminals, however, remain open.

Jack Potter, president and CEO of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, told reporters the airport remains in “rescue mode.”

The authority’s fire and EMS chief, Richard Bonnett, suggested that could remain the case for some time.

“It’s an active operation,” he said. “This will be ongoing for quite a while.”

Local law enforcement are also advising motorists that a number of roads in the area will be impacted by crash recovery efforts. These currently include:

Potomac Avenue from South Capitol Street to 2nd Street SW

• 2nd Street from Q Street to V Street SW.
• First Street from Q Street to V Street SW.
• Half Street from Q Street to V Street SW.
• V Street from 2nd Street to Half Street SW.
• Ohio Drive around Hains Point.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue