Search and rescue has been replaced with a recovery operation in the Potomac River after a military helicopter collided with a passenger plane from Kansas.
No survivors are expected from the crash involving a passenger plane carrying 64 people and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA), DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly Sr. said on Thursday morning.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement that a Bombardier CRJ700 plane and a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter collided in the skies at around 9 p.m. EST.
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American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members while making an approach to land at Reagan Airport in Crystal City, Virginia, about five miles from Washington.
The plane had departed from Wichita, Kansas.
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident, and we have recovered 27 people from the plane,” Donnelly said in a briefing on Thursday morning.
Audio from LiveATC.net, a source for in-flight recordings, captured what appears to be the final communications between the three crew members of the helicopter, call sign “PAT25,” before it collided with the plane, which was referred to as “CRJ” in the recording.
“PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller said at 8.47 p.m. on Wednesday.
Seconds later, another aircraft called in to air traffic control, saying, “Tower, did you see that?”
Air traffic control then redirected planes heading to runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport to go around.
“Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,” one of the air traffic controllers can be heard saying in the audio from around the time of the crash.
“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach into 33. We’re going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future,” another controller said.
“Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river,” a third air traffic controller stated.
“It was probably out in the middle of the river,” the controller added. “I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit.”
Information regarding American Eagle Flight 5342
By Melanie Sun and Guy Birchall
