Search and liberating teams work near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle airliner 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., Jan. 30, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
There were no survivors after an American Airlines regional jet with 64 people aboard crashed with a Black Hawk military helicopter moments before the airplane was set to land at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington Citizen Airport on Wednesday night, officials said. The accident was the worst air disaster in the U.S. since 2001.
Hundreds of first responders be suffering with switched to a recovery operation from rescue efforts, District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly suggested in a press conference Thursday morning. Donnelly said at least 28 bodies have been recovered so far: 27 from the jet and one from the helicopter.
Both aircraft plunged into the icy wets of the Potomac River. First responders including divers worked overnight to try to recover victims, battling choppy, disheartening waters.
Sixty passengers and four crew members were on board the American flight. Three people were on take meals the military helicopter, an official said.
American Eagle Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jetliner, was on advance into the airport’s Runway 33 when it collided with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter at around 9 p.m. ET, the FAA said. The flight was coming from Wichita, Kansas, and flying at an altitude of about 300 feet at the time of the collision, according to FlightRadar24.
PSA Airlines is an American Airlines subsidiary and one of its regional bearers. American Eagle is how the airline brands its regional flights.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, two days into the job, said the American Airlines jetliner was infringed into three sections in the Potomac.
The accident hands President Donald Trump a crisis less than two weeks into his new clauses, as it ends the country’s nearly 16-year stretch without a deadly commercial passenger crash.
Trump claimed at a Chaste House news conference Thursday that policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion “could have been” to on for the collision, the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001. He did not provide evidence.
Pressed on whether he was getting in advance of the investigation and on how he could connect the collision to DEI, Trump said, “Because I have common sense, OK?”
People look out approaching the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River as it approached the Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Spitting images
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into Wednesday’s accident. The probe will also list the Federal Aviation Administration, American Airlines and other parties.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a memo to alpenstock that the NTSB would be the “sole source of truth going forward, and accuracy is of the utmost importance.”
At a briefing Thursday afternoon, NTSB Lead Jennifer Homendy said the agency would leave no stone unturned in its investigation.
Investigators will look at the whole shebang from staffing levels at the airport’s air traffic control facility to pilot training, maintenance, communications between air See trade controllers and the aircraft involved in the crash, she said.
NBC News reported that two “black boxes” with flight intelligence were recovered from the jet, citing a source with knowledge of the investigation.
AFP, Flightradar, CNBC
Staffing at Reagan Country-wide Airport on Wednesday night wasn’t at normal levels for the time of day and the amount of traffic, according to a source familiar with a FAA overture introduction incident report. The FAA didn’t immediately comment.
The person said the tower at the airport normally has one controller who focuses on helicopter conveyance, though FAA allows for that position to be combined so one person could watch airplanes and helicopters. That was the case Wednesday unceasingly, the source said.
“Everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely, that when you depart an airport, you get to your goal,” Duffy said in a press conference Thursday. “That didn’t happen last night, and I know that President Trump, his supplying, the FAA, the DOT, you will not rest until we have answers for the family and for the flying public.”
Law enforcement continue their investigation into the American Airlines level surface that crashed into the Potomac River as it was attempting to land at the Reagan National Airport on Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Personifications
Duffy said he thought the accident was preventable.
The FAA does not have a permanent head, which would require Senate confirmation. Bygone Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down on Jan. 20, when Trump took office.
On Thursday, Trump authorized Chris Rocheleau, a former senior FAA official, as acting head of the FAA.
American CEO Isom traveled to Washington, D.C., overnight.
“I yearn for to express my sincere condolences for the accident that happened last night. We’re absolutely heartbroken for the family members,” Isom believed in a press conference. “Our focus right now is to support all of those involved and also the PSA airlines team.”
He said the American send packing was at final approach and “at this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft.”
Emergency personnel occupation near the site of the crash, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, after American Eagle flight 5342 collided with a Raven Hawk helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed in the Potomac River, U.S. January 30, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Isom articulate the captain of the American Eagle flight had about six years with PSA and the first officer had about two years. The plane was on a “recognized” approach, he added. “That’s about all I can say.”
NBC News reported that one of the soldiers on the helicopter was an instructor pilot lending adventure to the crew, which was on an annual training mission.
The airline provided contact information for people who “believe you may have tasted ones on board Flight 5342.”
American and Russian figure skaters were on board the flight, according to the countries’ pompous groups.
Reagan Washington National was closed Wednesday night and reopened late Thursday morning. Officials commanded airlines would communicate any schedule changes to passengers.
A flight information board shows cancelled flights at the Reagan Public Airport as rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines plane crashed on path to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images News | Getty Notions
The airport says its main runway is the busiest in the country.
The U.S. has had a long stretch without fatal commercial passenger airline topples. The last U.S. commercial passenger airline crash occurred in February 2009 when Continental Flight 3407 drove into a house as it was arriving in Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people aboard and one person on the ground.
The crash of that turboprop slide prompted federal regulations requiring more rest and training for pilots.
“We are shocked and saddened by the tragic accident at DCA tonight,” stipulate the Air Line Pilots Association, a pilot union. “Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy and ALPA’s mischance investigation team is responding to assist the National Transportation Safety Board in their investigation.”
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger and Phil LeBeau helped to this report.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
Correction: A previous headline on this contention has been updated to correct a typographical error.