Washington’s fire chief said they are ’switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.’
There were likely no survivors during a midair collision between a passenger jet and a helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, the district’s fire chief said in a news conference on Thursday.
“We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly said at the morning press conference.
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
Officials have recovered 27 bodies from the plane and one from the helicopter, he said. The local medical examiner is now working to reunite the bodies with their family members and loved ones as search and rescue efforts continue.
American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, had 60 passengers and four crew members aboard when it crashed at around 9 p.m. ET with a U.S. Army helicopter as it was landing at Reagan National Airport in Crystal City, Virginia, about 5 miles from Washington. The jet was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, officials have said.
A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked American Airlines Flight 5342 if it could land on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land, and flight tracking sites showed that the plane had adjusted its approach to the new runway.
The helicopter was a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, according to the U.S. Army. A crew of three soldiers were on board the helicopter, the Army has said.
The other aircraft was a Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet and was manufactured in 2004. It can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who spoke at the press conference, said the plane and helicopter were in a “standard flight pattern” before the collision, adding that “this was a clear night last night.”
